m 



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Irian nil r.-it (Hi dovrnioror Kliodc islai 
Mav o^i 1842. 



MiaHT AND RiaHT: 



BY 



<^^i^^^ 



A MODE ISLANDEK, 



'• Xone can love Freedom heartily, but good men ; the rest love not 
Freedom, but license, which never hath more scope, or more iiidiilgevcf, 
than under TYRANTS." Milton. 



/.Mr 



V 



PROVIDENCE : 
A. H. STILLWELL. 

1844. 






.^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, 

BY W. L. LEGG. 

in the Clerk's Oltice of the District Court of Rhode Island. 



B. F. MOORE, Printer, rroviQcn«e. 



TO 

THOMAS WILSON DORR, 

The TRUE and tried Patriot, the fearless De- 
fender OF Human Rights, this work is respect- 
fully inscribed by the 

The Author. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE. 

Introductory Chapter, - - - 13 

CHAPTER II. 

The Charter. ----- 27 

CHAPTER HI. 

Grounds of Complaint, - - - 39 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Rise and Progress of the Suffrage 
Movement, ----- 56 

CHAPTER V. 

Mass Conventions, - - - - 73 

CHAPTER VI. 

The People's Constitution, - » 92 

CHAPTER VIL 

The Right of Change, - - - 115 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Landholders' Constitution, - 155 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Algerine Laws, - - - - 172 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Judges, - _ _ . . 191 

CHAPTER Xn. 

The Two Elections, - - - ^ 214 

CHAPTER Xni. 
Resignations. ----- 236 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Martial Law, 257 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Prisoners, - - - _ _ 267 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Outlines of History, - - - . 288 



PREFACE 



Not as an advocate of the Free Suffrage Party, 
as such, do I present myself before the public ; for 
between them and me, there are some radical points 
of difference in opinion and in principle, which 
would not permit me to do so. But I stand forth, 
as an Expositor of truth, and, in that character, as 
the vindicator of men, who, acting under a strong 
sense of duty and of right, have yet suffered 
wrongs, which, if we rightly consider their char- 
acter, and the circumstances in which they were 
placed, put to shame the tyranny of the most des- 
potic government, and the oppression of the dark- 
est times. I know that a prejudice, wide as the 
dominion of wealth, strong and deep as his iron 
coffers, and cold as the coin that clanks within 
them, exists against this people ; and, also, that, 
in disapprobation of certain points of their course, 
some of the higher and purer spirits have turned 
aside ; and, moreover, that many who avow them- 



Vlll PREFACE. 

selves the Friends of Liberty, have even joined 
hands with the Oppressor ; yet, nevertheless, I will 
always sustain their right to be heard, before they 
are condemned ; and if there is one spark of hon- 
esty in the land, one single ray of real freedom, I 
fear not the result. 

There are those, I am well aware, who will 
meet me, even here, on the very threshold of my 
Enterprise, with the assertion that the Free Suf- 
frage Party acted wrong — some making one ob- 
jection to their course, others, another. To such 
I will say, must we wait till down-trodden and 
crushed Humanity is perfect^ before we go forth to 
labor in its behalf? Must the violated and prostrate 
slave become a model of all that is lovely and great 
in man, before we extend to him a helping hand, 
or breathe into his wounded bosom a word of pity, 
or of hope ? Then there would be no friends of 
liberty — no advocates of Human Rights, any- 
where. The hand that is stretched forth to help 
the persecuted, would be j>aralyzed in the very 
act — the generous bosom of Sympathy would 
learn to throb according to the dictates of artificial 
rules, and the great heart of Philanthropy, itself, 
would become calloused in complete selfishness. 
It is not incumbent upon me, then, before I labor 
in behalf of the men, to prove — what was never 



PEEFACE. IX 

proved of any great body — that they were, col- 
lectively and individually, all good men and true ; 
or that they, even, always acted from right princi- 
ples, or with right feelings. It merely rests upon 
me to show that, while they occupied the same po- 
sition with the Heroes of '76, they have been 
branded by every degrading epithet, and persecut- 
ed, and slandered, to that degree which Human 
Nature, when it knows itself — nay, when it be- 
gins to have the faintest suspicion of its power — 
cannot, and will not, and should not, long endure. 
It is true the dominant Party have spoken by the 
mouth of all their oracles, and called the Rhode 
Island Patriots, rebels ; while the people in the 
neighboring States, being in many, if not in most 
cases, content to act the part of echoes, have, for 
months, risen in the morning, quaffed their coffee, 
read the papers, dined, supped, and gone to bed 
again, to dream, very probably, how free they are ; 
they have done all this, in altogether comfortable 
ignorance of what their neighbors in this ancient 
colony of " The Plantations," were doing and 
suffering. In simplest phrase, then, I have but to 
show that the men I represent are injtired men ; 
and the sympathy of their fellow-countrymen will, 
I doubt not, be enlisted in their favor; for the 



PRFFACE. 



People have hearts, though PoHticians, and Legis- 
lators, may not have. 

Believing in the unity of Human Rights — the 
unity of Freedom — we can see that the injury of 
any member, is the injury of the whole body, and 
wrong towards any part is wrong towards the 
whole. It becomes, then, the bounden duty of 
him who labors in the cause of man, to neglect no 
sufferers about him who wear the human form, 
even though their creeds, both political and moral, 
may differ from his own. And to all others, who 
have no conscience to bear upon the question, it 
should become a matter of policy — of downright 
selfishness. Let them look to it, when Human 
Rights are trodden under foot, that their own are 
not injured, or even crushed amid the common 
wreck* 

I will, then, place the Free Suffrage Party of 
Rhode Island, on the same platform with the ca- 
nonised Fathers of the Revolution ; for there, only, 
can they occupy their true position ■-— there, only, 
can they be seen in their true light — there, only, 
can they hope to receive justice. Nor will they 
all stand like dwarfs in the presence of those great 
Shades ; but as true sons, and rightful heirs of the 
noblest legacy that man ever bequeathed to man. 
I set before you their history ; and, in the name of 



PREFACE. XI 



insulted Truth, and violated Justice, demand a 
CANDID HEARING. They ask for nothing more. 
And shall this demand he in vain ? Speak, good 
men and true, if there be any in Rhode Island who 
dare to do so ! In Rhode Island, where Honesty 
is starved, and only the miserable panders of Place 
and Power — the poor excrescences of a time-worn 
Aristocracy — can show a well-fed front. Speak, 
old Massachusetts, our elder-brother-land ! Send us 
a God-speed, that shall echo from your northern 
battlements to the hallowed Rock of Plymouth ! 
Give us one word of good cheer, Connecticut, our 
comely and right-minded sister ! Show us that a 
Heart is throbbing beneath that sober girdle — ay, 
and a Soul, too, ready to kindle at the tale of 
wrong ! The granite cliffs of New Hampshire 
never refused an echo when the oppressed cried for 
help ! They will speak for us. And even Green- 
mantled Vermont will blush in shame, that she 
beheld our sufferings unmoved. Her mountain- 
heart will beat again, true to herself, and the Free 
Thought that surrounds her like a native element ; 
and she will more than make amends for her former 
coldness. Maine will send us a cheer on the free 
billows that chafe her coasts ; and the eloquence of 
her orators, and the song of her noblest poet, will 
be an — nealed in our behalf. New York will 



Xll PREFACE. 

send our call abroad, with the high authority of the 
Empire State, and whisper it to the gentle sister 
she embraces ; and even the Land of Penn will be 
" moved in the spirit," to hear, and to help us. 
Ohio will catch our Appeal from the banks of her 
own beautiful River, and bear it westward, until, 
from the children of the distant prairies, shall come 
a widely-echoing response ; and no free Wind shall 
return to us with our call unanswered. 



MiaHT AND EIGHT. 



MIGHT AND EIGHT- 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

It will at once be seen by the style of the fol- 
lowmg Narrative of events, during the momentous 
season, when the friends of Liberty were strugghng 
for their own, and the people's rights in Rhode 
Island — that the Work has been penned by another 
hand than was expected. Ill health and domestic 
engagements have combined to prevent that person 
from performing the task ; but, in her opinion, the 
public will not lose by the exchange. The person 
who writes this Work, brings a warm heart, and 
powerful intellect into the field, and will, doubtless, 
do justice to the subject. She has, however, with 
much couruesy, delegated to another the office of de- 
lineating the character of Society in Rhode Island, 
prior to, and at the time of, the great political con* 
test she is commemorating. 

The writer of this Introduction has been long 
aware that people abroad, labor under the grossest 
mistake witii respect to those who are the characters 
that compose the principal part and make the princi- 
pal figure among the Aristocracy of Rhode Island ; 
Avho; it is known, are the sworn foes to Free Suf- 
frage ; and, indeed, to liberty in every form, and every 
where. People of other States, ev^en while they de- 
spise, the pride of descent, which they suppose has 
im^)elled ihem to grasp all power, and trample upon 
the rigjits of |jj|iendowed fellow-citizens, have yet 



16 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

felt a degree of commisseration, from the supposed 
hardship of depriving the families of the first settlers 
of honors and em.oluments they and their families 
had been always accustomed to, and admitting a set 
of interlopers (denominated " the rabble, the lower 
orders, the tag rag, &c. of Society,) to come in and 
share their inheritance — who had not, like their 
ancestors, borne the burden and heat of the day. 
Now persons who understand the matter in this light, 
may hoard their sympathies for another occasion. 
There is not a jot or tittle of truth in the supposi- 
tion : the families of the first settlers, the original 
owners of the soil, (honored be their names) are, for 
the most part, a different set of people ; and. with 'a 
few disgraceful exceptions, are uniformly favorable 
to the freedom of the Elective Franchise. They 
are Democrats of the old school, intelligent, liberal- 
minded men, who, estimating the blessings of Lib- 
erty and Independence, are willing all should enjoy 
them. V/ith them originated the first objections to 
the laws of primogeniture ; and, as will be shown 
here, were among the number of those, who have at 
various timics made efforts to obtain an enlargement 
of the rights of voters — efforts that were uniformly 
scouted by the General Assembly of the State of 
Rhode Island. 

But who, then, it will be asked, are the great men 
who rule that great State ? Who are the Aristocracy 
that lord it over the people ? Who affect to despise 
the laboring part of the population (except when 
they are soliciting their votes ?) Who are they that 
talk '' of the danger of putting power in the hands of 
the common people.^^ Why, for the most part, per- 
sons who a few short years since, ranked far below 
that order themselves : and now to their Ristory. 

In the changes to which all things are subject in 
this changing world, there has been a great change 
in the Society of Rhode Island. Party spirit has 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 17 

effected much ; for let a man be ever so despicable in 
himself, if he would only lend himself to the views 
of those, who were determined by every means, 
either honest or dishonest, to acquire and maintain 
supreme power in the State, his fortune was at once 
made. And again the facilities for obtaining the 
benefit of the Insolvent Act, have been the cause of 
an inundation of artful and dishonest men from other 
States, whose example has had a most deleterious 
effect upon the Society of Rhode Island — for 
although many came without any apparent means 
of support, yet by some craft unknown to the former 
staid and sober inhabitants, they contrived to live in 
a style and fashion quite new, and seduce others into 
habits of extravagance and profusion, that soon made 
a wreck of many a fair estate ; and often transferred 
those very estates into the hands of him, who though 
he had run the same excess of riot, yet having 
nothing, could lose nothing. Sometimes this has 
been done in later days, through the witchcraft of 
Banks, which readily transforms rags into gold, for 
in their palmy days, these were next to the General' 
Assembly — Omnipotent in Rhode Island. 

An early contest in Rhode Island, whose effects 
have been felt to the present hour, seemed at once to 
define the position of parties. We allude to that be- 
tween the old school Federalists and Jeffersonian 
Democrats, which was carried on with a zeal and 
fierceness, never perhaps ' equalled, certainly not ex- 
celled in any of the States. There was, as in the 
Suffrage contest, a proscription and persecution from 
the Federal side of the question, utterly at war with 
ail republican notions, as well as christian feeling. 

To give a history of this warfare, in the City of 
Providence alone, would more than fill this voUnne, 
and exhibit such examples of " man's inhumaijiiyjo 
man," as can only be surpassed by the crusade against 
the Suffrage Party in 1843 and 43. Who that has 
• 2* 



ig MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

read the '' Annals of the town of Providence," lately 
published by one of the Judges of the present justly 
styled Supreme Court of Rhode Island, would imag- 
ine such violence of persecution could have been ex- 
hibited, such party spite, such malign feeling, such 
riots, such quarrels, such backbitings and contentions, 
in a City for the last forty years at least, which he 
describes — going on as quiet as a (Quaker meeting. 
To begin with the Crusade against Gov. Arthur 
Fenner, who was, tell it not in Gath, father of the 
present Algerine Governor of this State. He was 
the Democratic Governor and a kmd of head of the 
Democratic party throughout the State ; at least they 
adopted him as such, although their party could boast 
of many men of superior pretensions in some respects, 
yet his age, his station, his known patriotism, which 
was never doubted, his shrewdness, and above all, 
the deep insight with which he penetrated the views 
and plots of the opposite party, made him a universal 
favorite with his own. 

He was besides of a very jocose, social and con- 
vivial turn, and exceedingly hospitable, entertaining 
friends and foes, without distniction, at his well 
spread board. This last virtue was made the instru- 
ment to mjure him, by many of his unscrupulous 
giiests ; and careless expressions, uttered durmg the 
hours of social hilarity, Avere artfully seized on to 
effect, if possible, his downfall. One of these rela- 
ting to an unknown stranger, who had recently com- 
mitted suicide in one of the public highways, was 
reported in such an aggravated manner as to occasion 
a lawsuit, and such a commotion as shock the whole 
State to its centre. It is inconceivable what a tumult 
the Federal Party contrived to make out of it ; and 
35 Gov. Fenner was then a candidate for re-election, 
they availed themselves of that privilege to abuse 
him beyond any thing we have ever known of any 
one individual. The almost expiring hopes of a 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 19 

famishing party, hungry for office, received such an 
impulse that they rushed from town to town, and 
village to village, from shop to shop, and house to 
• house, and daily collected in little groups in the 
streets and public places, to report progress, and tell 
the latest news. The Federal newspapers were fdled 
every week, with fresh scandals, and further enormi- 
ties, until one must have believed, if he credited 
them, that all the sins committed since the first set- 
tlement of the country, rested on this one man. 
Meanwhile the prosecution went on. It was an 
action of slander against the Chief Magistrate, for 
saying that John Dorrance, (formerly Judge) had 
sold the dead body of the suicide to a Surgeon, for a 
beaver hat ; and although they could make nothing 
out of the case, and the defendant was acquitted, yet 
did not the fire of the assailing party slacken in the 
least. From Gov. F. they went to his friends ; and 
his intimates and political associates were attacked 
with a degree of violence next in degree, to that 
with which they attacked the Governor. Fortune 
here seemed to favor them. It is seldom a man's 
friends are all honest ; and some curious develop- 
ments with regard to the affairs of the Gloucester 
Bank, where several of these were Directors, enabled 
them to open a new battery ; and oh, what a God- 
send the failure of that Bank was to the Algerines of 
that day ! Most of the Directors of that Bank were 
Democrats, in like manner as all those of the Agri- 
cultural Bank are Algerines now. How it was that 
the General Assembly publicly sifted them, and sent 
them to Jail, and now bear the downfall of this with 
such christian forbearance, we cannot tell ; since, we 
opine, that the block-heads who managed the for- 
mer concern were as much inferior in villainy to 
some in the late affair, as possible, their crime seemed 
to be in permitting themselves to be overreached by 
an artful linancierj who had the adroitness to persuade 



20 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

them — that he would by one bold stroke, make the 
fortune of the Bank. However, they had no right 
to embark the property of others, in such a gambling 
speculation, and were justly punished, their own 
party giving them up without a murmur. Still the 
friends of Gov. Arthur Fenner stuck close, and fought 
manfully in his behalf, and he was again and again 
re-elected. Nor did the fire of the Adversary slacken 
in the least ; every meeting of the Democratic Party 
was sure to be insulted in some way or other ; and 
to such a pitch of exasperation did the Federal lead- 
ers succeed in raising their party, that private insults 
on account of difference in politics, succeeded pub- 
lic ones. The military companies m the town of 
Providence, were at that time commanded by leaders 
of different sides, and to array them in a hostile atti- 
tude towards each other seemed quite a desideratum 
to the Federal Party. In this they succeeded, and on 
several occasions of public turn-out, a crowd was col- 
lected on the Great Bridge, and in other public places, 
where they were expected to meet, to see- the fun ; 
for, as they could not harmonize to go in one proces- 
sion, it was expected, whenever they met, there 
would be a contest. A very handsome and spirited 
party of Light-horse was commanded by Col. Henry 
Smith, a staunch Democrat, and a man who feared 
nobody, and it was supposed that rather than turn 
out for a foot company he would force his way pell 
mell through them, as he easily might have done, 
having the advantage of being mounted : however 
they reckoned without their host. Col. Smith had 
no idea of sacrificing the blood of his fellow-citizens 
from false notions of honor ; and upon meeting the 
foot company who had made their boast of compelling 
him to turn out, he very quietly wheeled and gave 
them the middle of the Bridge. Great cheering 
from the Federal mob succeeded this exploit ; but a 
few days after, Col. Smith was riding over, and 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 21 

chanced to meet the officer whose discourteous man- 
ners had occasioned such uproar, when he suddenly- 
leaped from his horse, and with herculean arm seized 
the little Bragadocio by the waistband, and shook 
him over the side of the Bridge, threatening to let him 
drop, unless he solemnly promised never to insult 
him again. This was final, and from that period, 
the rival companies passed each other with courtesy. 
But the persecution and vituperation of the Federal 
Party still continued. .One sample after they became 
elated by temporary success, may suffice. There 
was a naturalized citizen, who had resided several 
years in the town, ordered to quit it with his family, 
in three days, for the sole offence of talking his sen- 
timents publicly in the streets ; his manner, like that 
of most of his nation, being somewhat loud and bois- 
terous ; (he was an Englishman by birth) but the 
law required that a man should be a pauper, or liable 
to become such, before such a command could be 
enforced ; and this in his case, was far from being 
so. He was then driving a profitable business, and 
cleared at lease five dollars per day, above all expen- 
ses. The attorneys consulted, advised him not to 
go, and clearly demonstrated that they had no law 
for such a proceeding. He remained, and three days 
after, in attempting to pass the Bridge, was seized by 
order of the (Federal) Council, stripped, and publicly 
whipped on the Bridge. This outrage, was one of 
the boldest, and most daring experiments of that 
party, and justly drew down public indignation, not 
only in Rhode Island, but in the neighboring States, 
and nothing could have restrained the friends of this 
man from avenging his cause, but that regard to 
quiet and order which has ever distinguished the 
Democratic Party of Rhode Island. In allusion to 
the constant assertion that they were the rabble, it 
will be proper here to remark, tliat though the ma- 
jority, then, as now, were mechanics and laboring 



^2 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

people, they were in general not only better bred, 
but better born, than their adversaries, who, many of 
them came into the State, a few years before, not 
only needy adventurers, but of donbtful character. 
They were, mostly, the sons of persons, who, like 
themselves, had lived upon the credulity of mankind, 
persons, who, even now, Were over head and ears in 
debt, completely bankrupt, though living in a style 
that the poor m.echanics to whom they were indebt- 
ed, never attempted. One family that almost gov- 
erned the State at that time, originally came into the 

town as paupers, supported by the town of N , 

on Y\'hose books may still be seen the appropriations 
made for their support, and the schooling of their 
children — children doomed in a few short years to 
dictate to the .people of the town, and to sneer at 
'' the poverty and ignorawe of the lower orders.^'' 
Several of these Aristocrats had made their advent as 
Stable boys, not a few originally as Pedlars ; and we 
hold in our hand the Indentures of one of their 
great guns, who was bound out " to serve in a gen- 
tleman's kitclien," and who was afterwards the op- 
pressor of that gentleman's descendants, for demand- 
ing the rights of the com7no7i people. Reader, we 
would be the last to dispute tlie claims to respect, of 
the ])oor man, who has by honest industry raised 
himself into notice ; but when a man has arisen fr m 
the very lowest dregs in society, and by unholy 
stratagems has become possessed of a little wealth, 
and begins to swagger and look big, and talk about 
the '• lower orders," and " the rabble," and his " ope- 
ratives,^^ many of vv^hom are gifted with a genius and 
capacity which none of his stupid progeny could ever 
boast of — v/hen they begin to tell of the danger of 
putting power into the hands of the common people, 
it is time they should be exposed. They deserve 
miqualified cont^Miipt. No wonder they view with 
apprehensions v/iiich they cannot disguise, the dawn- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 23 

ing of that spirit of independence, which, were it suc- 
cessful, would bring them back to the rank from which 
they sprang : but we have wandered from our history. 
We have stated that Gov. Arthur Fenner was 
again and again re-elected, but we did not say that 
though he lived several years after, those who knew 
him best, affirmed that the political persecution he 
went through shortened his days, by undermining a 
constitution, which had previous to that promised a 
long life ; that there was a visible alteration, and 
accelerated progress towards the downhill of life, 
from the period of his contention with John Dor- 
ranee ; and that the continued abuse, which that 
affair first engendered, was hastening a catastrophe 
which eventually terminated his existence. Be that 
as it may, he died in the year 1805 ; and James, " his 
son, reigned in his stead." From the time of his 
death the hopes of the Democratic Party seemed to 
centre in him as a leader. He was thought to pos- 
sess all his father's shrewdness, while education, and 
a different set of associates had given a higher moral 
tone of character. This was what the Dem.ocratic 
Party needed, but they needed also, a man of firm, 
unwavering republican principles, a man humble in 
mind, simgle in his habits of life, and of a disposition 
to accommodate himself to the society of the mid- 
dling class, or of plain and unlettered men ; and 
there were those who soon discovered that the new 
leader was not possessed of all these attributes, nor 
was it long before this began to manifest itself; and 
a split in the Democratic ranks, from which the 
party never recovered itself, was the consequence. 
Henry Smith, a prominent character, already men- 
tioned, was one of the leaders of this secession, and 
associated with him was Seth Wheaton, the father 
of our now Minister at the Court of Prussia, who 
himself joined in the disaffection, and with his father, 
with several others, published a Manifesto declaring 



24 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

they could go no farther with his Excellency ; and 
that they were convinced Republicanism in Rhode 
Island could only be maintained, by the prostration 
of his Excellency. 

PROTEST. 

" To the Republican Citizens of the State of 
Rhode Island : — Having been informed that in 
different parts of the State reports were circulated 
with an intention to induce the belief that we have 
become reconciled to the re-election of Gov. Fenner, 
and believing it possible that such misrepresentations 
of the truth may bear upon the approaching election 
in a manner favorable to him — We hereby declare 
that we remain firm and determined in opposition, 
convinced that Republica?iism can only be revived 
in this State by the prostration of His Excellency. 
Your friends and fellow citizens, 

HENRY SMITH, 
SETH WHEATON, 
JAMES PETTY, 
JNO. T. S PAULDING, 
WM. PECKHAM, 
CHRISTOPHER ELLERY, 
SAMUEL THURBER, 
THOMAS SESSIONS, 
HENRY WHEATON. 
ProvidencBj April lU/i, 1811. 

And here let us pause to do justice to the charac- 
ters of some of the persons engaged in this contest. 
The character of the Hon. Henry Wheaton is now 
before the world, and most persons in this and other 
countries, know something of him. He needs no 
eulogy at our hands, and could suffer no detriment 
from our censure. Of his father, Seth Wheaton, 
Esq., who has long since passed to that bourne from 
whence no traveller returns, we would say, that 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 23 

^' take him for all in all, we ne'er shall look upon his 
like again." He had all the shrewdness of Gov. A, 
Fenner, united with keen wit and pungent sarcasm, 
that while it never fails to be admired, fails not also 
to create many enemies. He was a man of uncom- 
promising integrity, and unwavering Democratic prin- 
ciple. It has been urged against him, that his preju* 
dices were bitter : but granted, they were always 
founded upon an honest conviction that he was in 
the right ; and few persons were capable of such 
deep insight into human character. We have a dis- 
tinct recollection (in a long conversation where we 
were present) of some prophecies he made respecting 
the future course of some of the political characters 
of the day ; and, had he possessed the spirit of divi- 
nation, he could not more accurately have given their 
future history. In no one instance, has it failed to 
liappen as he foretold. It was his opinion ^' there 
would come a day, when a test question would come 
up in Rhode Island, and then there toould be a fall- 
ing of of all that ivas rotten in the State of Den- 
mark.^'' Peace to his ashes, his honest heart lived 
not to be wrung with the knowledge that many who 
were near and dear to him, then too young to judge 
of their future characters, would be among the num- 
ber. As to Col. Henry Smith, the frank, and gallant, 
and straight forward course he followed, forbade the 
idea of dark design or plotting in anything he did. 
His heart was so open, that every child could read it, 
and his hand so liberal, that none feared to ask any 
good office from it. Of the other signers, we have 
little recollection. We do not pretend to judge of 
the wisdom of a measure, which at that time, carried 
dismay into the Democratic ranks, and encouraged 
their opponents to exult over '' a City divided against 
itself." It made a final split in the Democratic Party. 
The greater part did not go with them ; for so firmly 
had the Fenner family entrenched themselves as the 
3 



9A MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

leaders of the party, that the attempt to oust thern^ 
backed by 7io proofs of their delinquency, fell to the 
ground. Yet it sowed the seeds of disunion and dis- 
ariection ; it created suspicions, and emboldened that 
violent and unprincipled Faction, originally termed 
Federalists, then Federal Republicans, then some- 
thing else, and, finally, down to Whigs, to manoeuvre 
with prospect of success in Rhode Island : and last 
of all, to concentrate power in their own hands, in 
this unfortunate State, under their most appropriate 
name of Algerines. 

During the last war with Great Britain, party spirit 
ran high, since the Federalists generally exposed 
themselves at that time as the ancient Tories. If the 
true Iiistories of their treasonable manoeuvres at tliat 
period could be given, it would fill many volumes. 
It was, however, a period when the principles and 
practice of the Democratic party shone brighter than 
they ever have since, in Rhode Island, and might be 
called their golden age. Their duties, however, were 
fatiguing and burtliensome, particularly when an 
English squadi^oji teas in the neighborhood. It was 
no easy duty to walk the shore all night long of a 
wintry night, to intercept correspondence with the 
enemy, or to venture out through the cold Vt^aters, 
to prevent boat loads of flour and other provisions 
sent by avaricious and disaifected men, from going to 
their relief. Yerily, as Shakspeare says, 'f I could 
a tale unfold," but forbear : may the story remain in 
oblivion, or be sunk in the deep waters, with a cer- 
tain package of papers, once thrown overboard in 
Narragansett Bay during that period, by one of our 
Benedict Arnolds ! ! 

It would occupy too much space to describe the 
various ups and downs of the two parties in this State 
since that period, or of the claims of the various Go- 
vernors inflicted upon unhappy Rhode Island since 
that period. Suffice it to say, it has not been a quiet 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 25 

despotism ; for some act of injustice or oppression 
has always agitated the State, and provoked hostili- 
ties from some quarter or another. The mob during 
the reign of Gov. Arnold, (N. B. We call it reign of 
Governors under the Kingly Charter,) of which 
Judge Staples makes mention in the quiet City of 
Providence, was no exception to this. For the col- 
lection of citizens, who on that occasion took justice 
into their own hands, had been long scandalised and 
outraged by a nuisance, from which no law seemed 
strong enough to protect them ; from which they had 
appealed again and again to the authorities of the 
town, and used every eftbrt of moral suasion to re- 
form. The two neighborhoods of Olney's Lane and 
Snowtown, where several respectable families resided, 
(and many more owned property there, who dared 
not make it a place of residence,) contained a thicket 
of houses, which were unfortunately tenanted by 
some of the vilest and lowest offenders against the 
laws of decency, and the laws of the land. They 
were places where no person was safe to pass after 
dark, perfect Pandemoniums, where persons of all 
colors congregated together, to carry on their guilty 
revels, to conceal stolen goods, and to concert every 
scheme of iniquity of which the human mind can 
conceive. There can be no doubt that murders were 
sometimes perpetrated secretly in those abodes of 
guilt ; as persons were sometimes missing there, of 
whom no account was ever after received ; not to 
mention those beat to death in drunken fights — of 
young women found with broken bones, and expiring 
from the effects of brutal treatment.* No sleep in 
the neighborhood of those places could be had the 
long night through, unbroken by the screams of mur- 
der, or cries of distress of some kind, mixed with the 

* Thomas Loyd Halsey, whose residence was on Prospect 
street, and but a short distance from the Lane, said, "he had no 
doubt more murders had been committed in that one lane, than ijqi 
nil the»3tate besides, since its first settlement," 



26 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

sound of the fiddle, and the drunken shouts of the 
depraved multitude. 

To complain had been found inefficient to remedy 
the evil ; and indeed, at the last, people had become 
somewhat afraid, lest the spirit of revenge should 
either fire their buildings or assassinate themselves. 
In this dilemma, after many years of forbearance, the 
people aggrieved, and it is believed respectable peo- 
ple, took up arms of clubs and brick-bats, and de- 
molished the abodes of infamy and wretchedness. 
The occasion was a favorable one ; it was the mur- 
der of a person sent to demand a Swedish sailor, who 
Avas retained in one of the houses in the Lane. The 
firing of that gun Avas a tocsin that called all hands 
to battle, and of all those receptacles of iniquity, but 
one on the close of that evening was left standing ; 
and that having a frame that resisted axes and fire- 
hooks, alone remained standing, a dismantled monu- 
naent of the judgments of tiiat night. Placards were 
fixed up, saymg they would take Sn.ow^tow^n the next 
night, which they did, though the Governor called 
out a military force to protect the den of iniquity ; 
and firing into the assailants, killed seven men, seve- 
ral of whom were persons whom ciniosity brought 
to the scene of assault. It was urged in his behalf, 
that he had '' twice^ commanded the people to dis- 
perse, and once fired blank cartridges " among them. 
Though no abettor or admirer of mobs, we must say, 
few ever did more good in shorter time ; and the 
death of those young men caused much stir at the 
time. Several had left families, cuid were deeply de- 
plored. But, accustomed as the people of the State 
had become to despotic power, it passed off without 
any action. There was no party bias in the case. 
The resistants were supposed to he about equally of 
all parties. 

For many ^rears there has been a spirit of resist- 
ance fostering in the people of Rhode Island, against 
the encroachments of arbitrary power. The health- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 2T 

fill action of the law, as its friends termed it, was too 
often found " a word and a blow, and the blow came 
first." It has often been found a fetter that has 
bound the j9oor debtor down to the earth, while it has 
let off the rich bankrupt unscathed. In the late 
transactions, it will be found, that while it stood 
ready to protect violence and wickedness, it left the 
honest and unprotected to be insulted and pillaged 
by a merciless soldiery — whom avarice, and party 
spite, and demoniac passion, led on to excesses that 
have disgraced the State in the eyes of lookers on, 
and will long be remembered, after the heads that 
planned, and the hands that have executed them, 
shall be mouldering under the sod. VV". 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CHARTER. 

In the very onset it may be well to examine the 
character and claims of this celebrated Instrument, 
which, until about two years ago, wasacktiowledged 
as the source of all Order, Government, and Law, in 
this falsely-called Free State of Rhode Island. Not 
by the majority of the people, indeed, was it so ac- 
knowledged ; for these, for more than fifty years, 
had looked upon it as a dead body ; and they had 
been, for nearly that length of time, continually en- 
treating the Government to give it the rites of sepul- 
ture, and a decent burial. But it was the self-con- 
stituted Lords of the Assembly of King Charles, who 
saw so many virtues in the parchment of that disso- 
lute monarch. It held for them, each and all. Let- 
ters-patent of Nobility. By it they assumed power 
to make such laws as best pleased themselves — to 
alter those laws, or annul them, as they would, and 
wJieyi they would ; and that without any regard to 
the interests of others — nay, it might be in direct 
3* 



28 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

violation of those interests, though a majority of 
three-fifths of the entire population might be the 
suiferers. The majority^ indeed, came to be regard- 
ed as plebeians by birth, and by habit, possessing 
no acknowledged rights, which could, by any extant 
possibility, be opposed to those of the self-constituted 
Government, which was, in defiance of all signifi- 
cance in language, continually affirmed to be the 
freeat in the world. The People had, it is true, pe^ 
titioned for a redress of grievances, for about fifty 
years ; and during that time, had made some little 
stir about Democracy, and the Rights of the Majori- 
ty ; but they were easily frowned down, and, to a 
considerable degree, persuaded that there was no 
other way but tacit, if not real submission. The 
Assembly saw that all this was very good. There- 
fore they determined never to change it. And all 
their minions cried, "Amen." They were living 
expositions of the trite fact, that arbitrary power, 
once obtained, though it be never so unjustly, is not 
willingly surrendered, unless, indeed, there be a true 
human heart, and a paramount conscience, in the 
holder thereof Thus far premising, I proceed to 
speak more particularly of the Instrument whose 
name is our present caption. 

It may be hiterestmg to the curious in such mat- 
ters, (and who is not curious when any point of the 
history of his native State is involved in the ques- 
tion ?) to know uiider what circumstances the Char- 
ter was obtained. It appears that originally the 
towji of Providence, then comprising all of what is 
now Providence County, except Cumberland, con- 
stituted a distinct jurisdiction, as did also the Island 
of Rhode Island, and likewise Warwick. These 
several territorial divisions were first united and 
brorght within one jurisdiction, by the Charter of 
164? ; which was obtained through the assistance of 
Sir Henry Vane. This Charter was very short, and 



MIGHT AND RIGHT, 29 

very loose in its terms. It shadowed forth a gene- 
ral power to establish such form of government as 
should obtain ''the voluntary consent of all." There 
was so much difficulty experienced in obtaining this 
" voluntary consent " in favor of consolidating the 
different districts under one governmentj that it was 
not until the year .1647 that a general government 
was agreed upon, and established. The General 
Assembly was convened in that year, for the first 
time, and the place of convention was the town of 
Portsmouth. 

In the same year were enacted the early Laws of 
Rhode Island. These were generally of an enlight- 
ened and liberal character, and were adopted with 
the following Preamble, 

" And now, sith our Charter gives us power to 
govern ourselves, and such others as come amongst 
us, by such a form of civil government, as, by the 
voluntary consent, &c., shall be found most suitable 
to our estate and condition, it is agreed by this 
present Assembly, thus incorporated, that the form 
of Government established in Providence Plantations, 
is Democratical — that is to say a government held 
hij the free and voluntary consent of ally or the 
GREATER part of all, the free inhabitants." 

One of the first provisions had this clause : '' No 
man in this colony shall be taken, or imprisoned^ or 
be disseized of his lands, or liberty, or be exile, or 
any otherwise molested, but by the lawful, judg- 
ment OF HIS PEERS." What an evident retrograde 
has been going on since that time ! The unenfran- 
chised man of Rhode Island could never be tried by 
his peers ; because neither himself, nor his peers, 
were eligible to act as jurors ; and, in later times, it 
has been no infrequent thing to see a man molested, 
injured in his property and character, and deprived 
of his liberty, without any ^'lawful judgment," or 
even any legal pretence. It cannot be doubted that 



30 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the early Fathers of Rhode Island never perceived 
such a tendency in their government, nor intended 
to produce such a resuU. 

The government under the Charter of 1643 was 
dissolved in 1651. Another Charter was obtained 
in that year by Coddington, by which he was con- 
stituted Governor, and the Island of Rhode Island 
and Conanicut was severed from the connection, 
which, they before held with Providence and War- 
wick, Though Coddington's Charter soon went out 
of force, yet the re-union of the severed districts was 
not so easily effected, and the Representatives from 
Providence and Warwick met at Providence, while 
another Assembly held their sessions on the Island. 
When a re-union was procured, it appeared obvious 
good policy to take some measures in order to secure 
and perpetuate it ; and, mainly for tliis purpose, was 
obtained the Charter of Charles the 11. , which, down 
to a very late period, remained the nominal Consti- 
tution of the State. 

A Court of Commissioners met at Warwick, Oct. 
IS, 1660, and passed an Act acknowledging Charles 
as their liege King, also a vote for solemnizing his 
proclamation, in which it was officially provided 
that, " on the next Wednesday, which will be the 
24th of this instant month, each town in this colony 
shall, then, at the liead of the company of each train- 
band, solemnize the proclamation of the Royal Ma- 
jesty, and that the captain of each town is hereby 
required and authorised to call the train-band to- 
gether, to solemnise the said proclamation on the 
foresaid day, if the weather do permit; if not, then 
it is to be done on the next fair day ; and that all 
children and servants shall have their liberty on that 
day." 

By the untiring exertions of Roger Williams and 
John Clarke, a renewal of the Charter was obtained, 
and a warrant was issued, dated the 14th day of 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 31 

November, 1663, requiring the Warden, or deputy 
Warden of Providence, to call a town meeting at 
Newport on the 24th of that month, "partly and 
chiefly to receive the Charter, which is certainly re- 
ported to be arrived." 

On the day appointed, the Commissioners met ; 
and the box containing the since famous document 
was produced and opened, in the presence of what the 
Record describes as " a very great Assembly of the 
People." And after the Charter, with '' his Majesty's 
royal stamp and broad seal," having been " held up on 
high, and presented to the perfect view of the Peo- 
ple," was "returned into the box, and locked up by 
the Governor, in order to the safe keeping," it was 
directed that the most humble thanks of the colony 
be returned to his Majesty, " for the high, inestima- 
ble, yea, incomparable grace and favor." 

This Instrument, together w"ith various statutes 
which were enacted from time to time, for the pur- 
pose of explaining and altering the Charter, and sup- 
plying lis deficiencies, and certain usages, which, 
from long existence had obtained the force and sanc- 
tity of laws, constituted the Government of the 
State. It has ahvays been in the power of the Ge- 
neral Assembly, by their entire control over the 
right of Suffrage, to remove every existing evil, and 
silence every just cause of complaint. But tliis, 
whatever assertions may now be made to the con- 
trary, they were never disposed to do. Every con- 
cession that has been made, has been extorted by 
fear, not voluntarily surrendered. But let me not 
anticipate. I return to the Charter of 1663. 

By this Royal Instrument it was provided, that 
*' all persons should, freely, and fully, have and en- 
joy, his and their own judgments, and consciences, 
in religious concernments ;" and the people were 
pronounced " a body corporate and politic." Charles, 
i also, " by his especial grace, certain knowledge, and 



32 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

mere motion," granted the power of forming a Ge- 
neral Assembly — the original members bemg ap- 
pointed by the King, and mentioned in the Charter. 
This body had power to '^ eloct and constitute offices 
and officers, to grant commissions, to appoint, order 
or direct, erect and settle, places and courts of juris- 
diction ; to alter, revoke, annul oi pardon, under 
their common seal ;" to " make, ordain, constitute, 
or repeal, such laws, statutes, orders, and. ordinances, 
forms and ceremonies of government, and magis- 
tracy, as to them shall seem meet, for the good and 
welfare of said company," provided always, that they 
be " agreeable to the laws and statutes of this our 
realm of England.^'' They were also to regulate 
the election to offices of trust, to prescribe and limit 
boundaries of towns, etc., and, finally, to " direct, 
rule, order, and dispose, of all other matters and 
things." 

We see by this, that, unless the General Assembly 
should transcend their prerogative, so far as to do 
aught which is not agreeable to the laws and stat- 
utes of England, the Charter may not be violated, 
though humanity and justice, the world over, cry 
out against them. Though the Charter does not 
per?jvit, it has no power, whatever, to check usurpa- 
tion. It has been, in short, a convenient screen for 
Despotism and Tyranny to skulk behnid, where they 
have performed deeds which their cowardice would 
not permit them to do unsheltered. 

But the Charter was considered, and was very 
liberal in its provisions, considering the time and cir- 
cumstances under which it was given. In it we 
find permission for the original "Company" to plant 
grapes, make wine, pursue whale, dubertus, or other 
great fish, and open mines ; only requiring that one- 
fifth of all " the ore of gold and silver " they might 
there find, should be yielded, " in lieu, and satisfac- 
tion, of all services, duties, fines," and "forfeitures." 



IIGHT AND RIGHT. 33 

And all this might be very well, if there were no 
PROGRESS. In the early days of the Charter, the 
people of Rhode Island were engaged mostly in 
agricultural pursuits, a very large majority of them 
being freeholders ; so the defects of the government, 
and the required freehold qualification, were not very 
sensibly felt. There were then few counteracting 
influences ; the commercial and agricultural interests 
being so closely dependent on each other, as to be, 
in fact, identical. But the body corporate, like the 
individual body, cannot be always fed on pap, and 
held by leading-strings. By a common law of na- 
ture it must grow, and strengthen, until material 
cha.nges take place in its condition and character ; 
so that what was, in early infancy, healthful and 
necessary, becomes in the mature state not only 
quite insufficient, but totally unnecessary, and even 
hurtful. 

It will be readily perceived, that great abuses 
would not so naturally flov/ from the Charter itself, 
as from the Assembly. That body claim, and always 
have exercised, a power that is irresponsible, to all 
intents and purposes, so far as this country is con- 
cerned. I said that irresponsible power is claimed, 
and exercised. They are also independent, and om- 
nipotent. That they so considered themselves, may 
be proved from the mouths of their own members. 
John Howe, of Bristol, at the January session of the 
[Legislature, in 1842, said — '^ The terms of the 
I Charter are broad and liberal. They give almost all 
jpower to the General Assembly." And previously 
jit was said by the late Honorable Elisha R. Potter, 
|of South Kingstown, in a speech before the same 

|august body — " Mr. Speaker, the member from 

is very much mistaken, when he supposes that this 
:Geueral Assembly ca7i do anything that is unconsti- 
tutional ! Sir, I conceive that this body has the 

iSAME power over THE NON-FREEHOLDERS OF THIS 



34 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

State, that THE ALMIGHTY HAS OVER 
THE UNIVERSE!" And this impious declaration 
was made in the presence of Repubhcan Rulers — 
those who profess to claim the prerogative of govern- 
ing the people, from motives of pin-e charity, because 
they are not capable of governing themselves. Is it 
not sii/hcient comment on the above, to say, there is 
710 record to tell us that Mr. Potter tvas rebuked ! 
And how should he have been by his coadjutors 
and fellow tyrants ! They liked the doctrine too 
well to question its truth ! 

It will be easily seen that the inevitable result of 
such an organization would be arrogance on the one 
hand, and servility on the other. A non-freeholder, 
in the presence of a freeman, was, oftener than 
otherwise, a poor cringing slave, incapable of utter- 
ing his thoughts freely and honestly ; and, apparent- 
ly, almost unconscious of the fact, that one who had 
not $134 invested in land, was just as good a man 
as one who held possession of that same high qualifica- 
tion and test of manhood. I recollect an instance. Se- 
veral years ago a non-freeholder attempted to speak in 
a public meeting. He rose with evident alacrity and 
interest in the subject under discussion, and began to 
speak with considerable effect ; but, looking round, he 
perceived that most of his auditofs owned a freehold 
estate. He was cowed down in an instant. Stammer- 
ing out something about not being used to speak in the 

PRESENCE OF FREEMEN, llC Sat doWU, COVCrcd witll 

confasion. And this is the spirit the Aristocracy of 
Rhode Island have always sought to foster. They 
have always, by their public acts, and their private 
influence, discouraged everything that hinted at the 
elevation of the laboring classes of people. And 
why, but the better to secure their own special pre- 
rogatives ? Why, but for the same reason that sug- 
gests the same course of action to Despotism every- 
where ? Light is unfavorable to Tyranny — Dark- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 35 

ness and ignorance are its best adjuncts. There may- 
be liveried servants, heavier place, richer carpets, and 
drapery with costlier fixtures^ in other cities — there 
may be greater show of wealth in many places ; but, 
I apprehend, that nowhere in this country — per- 
haps nowhere on the globe — is a poor intruder over 
the chalked line of the patent ^^ first circle," met 
with a more chilling — I may say a more killing 
iciness, than here, in this same little, big-feeling 
State of Rhode Island. 

And this is the Government we have heard daily 
lauded, as if it were the very acme oi legislativ^e wis- 
dom and clemency ! The power being thus consoli- 
dated in the hands of the few, the social condition 
which has grown out of it, is, in a very high degree, 
restrictive and Aristocratical. A narrow clique became 
the nobility, constituting what is technically called, 
'' Society:" while thousands of respectable and en- 
lightened citizens, with their families, were thrown 
into the common mass of the " Vulgar" — any indi- 
vidual of which meeting one of the self-constituted 
upper-circle, even in the common street, might per- 
ceive d^, turning up of the high-born, and high-bred 
nose, and a shrinking, as if from contamination : or, 
at the best, a vacant stare, which mtelligibly recog- 
nized — Nobody — Is this a condition of things which 
Kepublicans — which a Free People should allow ? 
Nay, are the people — can the people be free, in such 
a State ? I think not. 

The Charter prescribed no rules, whatever, for the 
admission of Freemen ; and it was not until 1724, 
that an act of Assembly was passed, by which Elec- 
tors were required to have a freehold estate of $100 ; 
and, by the same act, the oldest son of such a free- 
holder was admitted to be a freeman, without other 
qualification. That the General Assembly have 
power to make the qualification any sum they 
PLEASE; so as to consolidate the government entirely 
4 



36 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

in the hands of the weaUhiest magnates of the land^ 
is proved by the following changes, which have been 
rung upon this great bell of discord. I have record- 
ed the Act of 1724. In 1736 £200 of real estate 
was required. In 1746 £^.00 or £20 per annum, 
and, finally, in 1762, it v/as reduced to £40, cr §134 
of Federal currency. Thus we see that the majority 
of the people of Rhode Island have been held subject 
to the sovereign nod of the Assemble, with but one 
right guarded — no other than the right of con- 
science, being even acknowledged. Instead of being 
the free members of a free confederacy, they have 
been slaves in the fullest sense — which will by and 
by appear. Their liberties Lave been left to the 
mercy of an Instrument, w^hich imposed no limita- 
tions on despotic power. Yet this people have been, 
for more than sixty years, mocked by the assertion 
that Rhode Island was free ! And while their own 
chains were clanking audibly — not on the limbs, 
indeed — but, worse — far worse — deep in the 
heart — deeper in the soul — they have listened to 
mouthing orators on the Fouith of July, when they 
conceived they had special right and opportunity 
to profane the sacred name of Liberty ! One would 
think these Legislators had no honest blood in their 
hearts ; or they w^ould blush at the very syllables in 
the name of Freedom ! 

As instances of the assumption of unwarrantable 
power, by the General Assembly, take the fcllowhig 
Acts ; which will go far to show at what rate the 
venerable Charter should be valued, as a Co7isiiiu- 
tioji. By that Instrument it was provided that the 
Governor, Deputy Governor, and Assistants were to 
be elected on every first Yvednesday in May. at 
Newport, by a majority of the voters then and there 
assembled. The General Assembly sav/ fit to ai:::,il 
this provision ; which they did by passing an Act \o 
that ellect, in October, 1664 — in less than one year 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 37 

after the public proclamation of the Charter. It was 
provided that all freemen who chose to do so, instead 
of coming to Newport to vote for general officers on 
the first VVedtiesday of May, miglit vote in town- 
meetings legally convened, where their proxy votes 
should be received, thence to be transmitted to the 
General Assembly. 

In August, 1670, all voting at Newport w^as ex- 
pressly forbidden, except by members of the Gene- 
ral Assembly; and the voters were directed to vote 
in their respective towns, on the third Wednesday in 
April. 

The Charter provided that the freemen are to be 
admitted by the General Assembly ; but the Genferal 
Assembly passed an Act in 1666 entirely contrary to 
that provision ; by which it was provided that free- 
men should be admitted by the freemen of their 
respective towns, in. town-meeting. 

Again, the Charter provided that the Governor, 
Deputy Governor, and Assistants, with the Repre- 
sentatives chosen by the several towns, should meet 
in General Assembly, without any provision for 
forming two distinct Houses ; yet the General As- 
sembly, by an Act passed in 1696 arranged that the 
two Houses are to sit separately, except when for 
some special purpose they are convened, in Grand 
Committee. 

Again, an obvious defect in the Charter was reme- 
died by an Act, authorising a Lieutenant Governor, 
or senior Senator, to discharge the duties of Governor, 
in case of a vacancy, by non-election, death, or re- 
signation, or by absence or inabilty. 

Again, Joseph Wanton having been chosen by the 
freemen of the State as Governor of Rhode Island, 
was deposed by the General Assembly, in defiance 
of Electors, and the whole British Parliament. He 
protested against the Act, was re-elected — and again 
deposed, by a body of men, who claimed, and exer- 



38 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

cised, greater than the power of Majesty. Without 
at all questioning the wisdom or justice of these \ ro- 
visions, we can see that the Charter interposed no 
check upon the General iVssembly — not even in 
the first year of its bridal favor. It is in vain to de- 
fend such Acts on the ground of right. The power 
to do right against authority, contained within itself 
also, in like manner, the power to do wrong. But 
perhaps by these extensions of prerogative, the As- 
sembly only intended to cover that singularly elastic 
phrase, which gave them power over "all other mat- 
ters and things." 

But tracing the Records of Legislative Proceedings 
downwards, we find an Act, which by no possibilty^ 
could be distorted into anything else than gross and 
palpable outrage of the very principle upon which 
the State was founded — that principle which P-.hode 
Islanders have always cherished with such fond and 
jealous love — the right of "freedom in religious 
concernments." By an Act of the first of March, 
1663-4, the rights of Sutfrage were more expressly 
guarded ; but probably sometime between the years 
1719 and 1730, the shameful clause was added, 
" Roman Catholics only excepted." The effect was 
to exclude Roman Catholics from the polls — to cut 
off their sacred right of S ffrage. And that not only 
in defiance of usage which had become hallowed by 
association, with the name, history, and character of 
Roger Williams — of the spirit of our institutions, 
and the habits of our people ; but in the very teeth 
of that clause of the Charter which expressly pro- 
vides, that " No person within the said colony, at 
any time hereafter, shall be in any-icise molested, 
punished, disquieted, or called in question^ for any 
differences of opinion in matters of Religion, who 
does not actually disturb the public peace." 

Again, and that in modern t.mes, has this right 
been openly violated, in the banishment of the Reve- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 39 

rend William Fuller, for the flagrant sin of denoun- 
cing rum-selling and rum-drinknig — in both of 
which conditions of being, without doubt, the 
Authorities were interested. Mr. Fuller was a well 
educated and regularly ordained minister ; and 
preached to the entire satisfaction of his hearers, at 
Washmgton village, until his doctrines came to 
have too many home truths ; and he was officially 
ordered to leave the town. He obeyed peaceably, 
, leaving also the State. He has since supplied for 
some time the pulpit of the first Presbyterian Church 
in the city of Utica. In this open war upon the 
right of conscience — the single right that should 
be, by the Charter, preserved inviolate, we see a 
deep and fearful meaning. If a right which is so 
carefully guarded be thus made the subject of wan- 
ton outrage, what is to become of those rights which 
are secured by no constitutional bonds? Will the 
power which illegally infringed that, be too gene- 
rous to touch these ? The generosity and the jus- 
tice of tyrants are found — where the rainbow 
touches earth. They may seem close at hand. 
You can almost touch them. You fly to grasp the 
good they promise. You still pursue. It recedes 
as you approach. And when you reach the very 
spot where it glimmered in false brightness, it is 
gone. 



CHAPTER III. 

GROUNDS OF COMPLAINT. 

BsFORE entering on the subject of the present 
Chapter, I would bespeak the Header's courteous 
4* 



40 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

attention to a number of facts. Dry details they 
may bo, and wholly devoid of interest in themselves, 
yet not insignificant to ns, and to onr labors ; for 
they are the very basis of the whole snperstrnctnre 
we are about to rear. Attention, then, kind Reader, 
and gentle patience ; for the question which is now 
peiiding — and the movement which is now going 
on, is not one of mere local interest- — a qnestion 
where tlie rights of a Party are held at issue : — ^ it is 
not whether the people oi a few miles of territory, 
shall be bondmen, or freemen ; but it embodies a 
principle which knows no geographical divisions — ■ 
no social distinctions — the progress of which no 
waters can check, and no monntains can arrest — a 
principle which is yet destined to pervade the wide 
earth — until the souls of all mankind are aroused 
as one soul — and every condition of being — Capi- 
talist and Operative, Governor and Governed, Tyrant 
and Slave — is mingled, and, as it were, melted into 
one, by the all-subdumg, all-engrossing fire of true 
liberty ! 

But I proceed to enumerate some of the abuses, 
of which the Suff*rage Party of Rhode Island com- 
plain. In the first place, they object to a landed, or 
other property qualification, as degrading to man, 
setting, as it does, a given portion of earth above 
the character of manhood ; so that man, instead of 
having dominion over all the earth, as was at first 
wisely appointed, is made subject to a small portion 
of earth, itself. It, moreover, excludes from the 
right of franchise a large majority of the people, 
otherwise well qualified, who have the common in- 
terests, and do all the duties of good citizens ; and 
yet are excluded from exercising the rights of citi- 
zenship. It is often said that the necessary amount 
of lauded property may be acquired by any one. 
This, I think, is assuming too much ; at least, for 
the present day. The wisest and best of men ai'« 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 41 

not always worldli/-\vise, even to the small degree 
necessary to attain and hold f 134 in real estate, over 
and above a comfortable living ; and misfortune, not 
unfreqnently, arrests, not only the most prudent fore- 
sight, but destroys at a blow, the fruits of long peri- 
ods of the most successful industry. But let us 
suppose that a laboring man gathers together the 
required amount, over and above what is demanded 
by the immediate necessities of himself and family. 
To invest this sum m land, is not only exceedmgly 
difficult, but is, in many cases, the most unwise and 
unprofitable investment that can be made. 

A ludicrous, and yet true illustration of this long- 
vexed question, may be found in the works of Fraidv- 
lin. Speaking in reference to this subject, he says, 
'• Suppose the property-qualification to be twenty 
dollars. A man going to the polls to deposite his 
vote, not being found to be worth that sum, his vote 
is rejected. On turnmg away, he meets a man who, 
probably for some interest in the election, gives him 
a jackass worth the required sum. He then returns 
to the polls, and finds his vote accepted. Now, in 
whom does the right of Suffrage exist — in the man, 
or in the jackass ?" And, I may ask, Aviil their man- 
tle of False Republicanism, though garnished with 
quotations from Jefferson, and all the most glowing 
patriotic speeches — "The Comthon Weal " — '• Our 
Country's Good" — and all the minor gems of 
Fourth-of-July bombast, will that mantle yet a great 
while hide the lo?ig ears of such as place the pre- 
rogatives of manhood, not merely in brute animals, 
but in insensible dust — in barren sand and gravel? 
1 think not. The external signs of the species, be- 
gin to be discoverable, even now. 

It is a singular fact that the Charter Party boldly 
deny the principle upon which the General Govern- 
ment was originally founded — that of the sove- 
reignty OF the Peopi.e — which also must include 



42 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

Free Suffrage ; and yet they claim to be Republi- 
cans ? They bind their fellow men in the bonds of 
slavery, and then insult them in the desecrated name 
of Liberty ! Will it be thought too strong language 
to say disfranchised men are enslaved ? I turn to the 
defence of that term, so applied. In looking over 
the " Proceeding and Debates of the Convention of 
1787," which met for the purpose of framing the 
Constitution of the United States. I find, in an ad- 
dress of Martin Luther, delivered before the Legis- 
lature of Maryland, relative to the Proceedings of the 
Convention, the following passage, which speaks so 
directly to the point, I cannot refrain from a long 
quotation. There we find that the principles of man's 
natural right to, and fitness for self-government, in- 
sisted upon as the very Palladium of Rights, and 
Corner Stone of Republican Liberty. And should 
not we faithfully treasure up the rich and nobie 
thoughts that fell from the lips of those good eld 
Patriots, like fruits fully ripe, not merely to nourish 
the then-present generation ; but, planted in the soul, 
to bring forth new fruit, until reproducing them- 
selves continually, they should rise in prouder strength 
— in loftier beauty — the glory of all future ages ! 
And live they will — and grow — until their branches 
cover all the earth — the little breath of a purse- 
proud Aristocracy puffing against them, to the con- 
trary, notwithstanding. 

Mr. Luther, says — '' Those who advocated the 
equality of Suffrage, took the matter up on the ori- 
ginal principles of government ; they urged that all 
men, considered in a state of nature, before any go- 
vernment is formed, are equally free and independ- 
ent, no one having any right or authority to exercise 
power over another, and this without any regard to 
difference in personal stre7igth, in understanding, or 
WEALTH. That, when such individuals enter into 
government, they have each a right to an equal vote 



MIGHT AND fllGHT. 43 

in ev^ery matter which relates to its first formation, 
and afterwards have each a right to an equal vote in 
every matter which relates to their government. 
That, if it could be done conveniently, they have 
each a right to exercise it in person. Where it can- 
not be done la person, but for convenience represen- 
tatives are appointed, to act for them, every person 
has an equal vote m choosing that represe^itative ; 
who is entrusted to do for the whole, that which the 
whole, if they could assemble, might do in person, 
and in the transaction of which, each would have an 
equal voice. That if we were to admit, because a 
man is more wise, more strong, or more wealthy, he 
should be entitled to more votes than another, it 
would be inconsistent with the freedom and liberty 
of that other, and would reduce him to Slavery. 
Suppose, for instance, ten individuals in a state of 
nature, about to enter into government, nine of whom 
are equally wise, equally strong, and equally weal- 
thy, the tenth ten times as wise, ten times as strong, 
or ten times as rich ; if, for this reason, he is to have 
ten votes for each vote of either of the others, the 
nine might as well have no vote at all ; since, though 
the whole nine might assent to a measure, yet the 
vote of the tenth would countervail and set aside all 
their votes. If this tenth approved of what they 
wished to adopt, it would be well ; but if he disap- 
proved he could prevent it ; and in the same man- 
ner he could carry into execution any measure he 
wished, contrary to the opinion of all the other, he 
having ten votes, and the other, altogether, but nine. 
jit is evident, that, on these principles, the nine would 
jhave no will or discretion of their own, but must be 
(totally dependent on the will and discretion of the 
itenth ; to him they would be as absolutely slaves, as 
jany negro is to his master. If he did not attempt to 
carry into execution any measure injurious to the 
other nine, it could only be said, they had a good 



44 MIGHT»AND RIGHT. 

master ; they would not be the less slaves, because 
they would be totally dependent on the will of an- 
other, and not on then* own will. They might not 
feel their claims, but they would, notwithstanding, 
weal them ; aud tokcnever their master pleased^ he 
might draw them so tight as to gall them to the 
bone. Hence it was nrged, the ineqality of re- 
presentation, or giving to one man more votes than 
another^ on account of his wealth, &c., was alto- 
gether inconsistent with the principles of liber- 
ty ; and in the same proportion as it should be adopt- 
ed, in favor of one or more, in that proportion are 
the others enslaved." 

These, then, are the opinions of such men as 
George Washington, James Wilson, James Madison, 
Benjamin Franklin and their cotemporary patriots ; 
and these opinions, and such as these, they consider- 
ed, and we consider, the war of the Revolution es- 
tablished. The instance adduced by Mr. Luther, 
of the votes of the nine being countervailed by tlie 
tenth, is precisely analogous to the state of things 
here. Three-fifths of the people, in violation of 
their rights as citizens of the United States — in vio- 
lation of their rights as men, are held in complete 
slavery by the remaining two-fifths ; and their his- 
tory will show that they have, by no means, always 
had a generous and lenient master. 

Secondly — They object to the inequality of Re- 
presentation, and consequently Taxation without 
Refj{Esentation. This was considered one of the 
strongest grounds of complaint, upon which was 
based the war of the Revolution. And is not the 
objection valid now, as it was then ? Nay, is not 
every species of Wrong and Oppression, infinitely 
more daring — infinitely more degrading now, than 
it was then ; because it conflicts directly with the 
s})irit of the institutions, which all the Authorities 
profess to venerate — and with the writings and sen- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 45 

timeiits of men, whom the^ pretend to hallow as 
almost divine ! 

By a provision of the Charter, Newport Vv^as to 
have six representatives; Providence, Portsmouth, 
and Warwick, four each ; and each other town of 
the State, two. This rule, b}^ the changes Avhich 
gradually took place in the population, came to be 
very unequal. Providence, with a white populafcioii 
of 21,870, had two votes less than Newport, with 
only 7,909 ; and Warwick, with her 6,595 inhabi- 
tants, and Portsmoth with her 1,692, sent each 
double the number of representatives of Smithfield, 
with a population of 9,403 ; and so on through the 
catalogue. By this it will be seen that a very large 
number of the people were left quite unrepresented, 
although they paid all the taxes required of them, 
and did otherv\ase the duties of good citizens. Is it 
not wrong that the non-freeholders should be obliged 
to pay all taxes imposed for municipal purposes, 
while they were denied a voice in the election of mu- 
nicipal officers ? And also that they were not permitted 
to take part in the election of Representatives to the 
General Assembly, Avhile they were obliged to pay 
all taxes imposed by the Legislalure, being bound 
to serve in the Militia, or Fire Companies, and to 
equip themselves, together with their sons and ap- 
prentices over eighteen years of age, for that purpose. 
Furthermore, that they can have no voice in the 
election of Members of Congress, nor in the choice 
of the Electors of the President and Vice President 
of the United States, though they are free citizens 
of the United States, paying all taxes imposed by 
Congress, and being liable to be drafted from tjie 
Militia of the State for the defence of the country. 
How is their condition otherwise tJian that of serfs 
and vassals, the world over ? Circumstances may 
have given to their intellect a somewhat more gene- 
rous expansion ; but in as far as he can have, or ex- 



46 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

ercise. any power over his own rights, the non-free^' 
holder of Rhode Island is as much enslaved, as if ■ 
he wore a real chain, fastened upon neck and limb 
with an iron padlock. 

But to return to the subject of Representation. A 
Republican Government, or Representative Demo- 
cracy, has been defined " ci government resulting 
from the icill of a majority, ascertained by a just 

AND EQ^UAL REPRESENTATION." Let US mcaSUrC tllC 

claims of Rhode Island to this title. We shall see 
whether it deserves not rather the title of Oligarchy, 
or " A Rule of the Few." 

Providence County, with a population of 58,077, 
had only 22 Representatives, while all the other 
Counties, with an aggregate of only 50,760, had 50 
Representatives, or a majority of 14. It is reckoned 
that there are ,^32,640,000 of taxable property in the 
State. Of this, $17,970,000 belongs to Providence 
County, making an excess of $3,300,000 of taxable 
property, while the Representatives are only 22 to 
72. In Providence County the average of taxable 
property to one Representative, was $816,818, while 
in other Counties it was only $293,400. Thus 
one dollar gave almost three times the power in 
the Southern Counties, that it gave in Providence 
County ; and almost five times the power in New- 
port that it gave in Providence. 

But if we look more closely into particulars, we 
shall find still more glaring features of injustice. 
Taking the number of votes for Electors in 1840, 
as the standard number of freemen in the several 
towns, I proceed. The town of Jamestown sends 1 
Representative for every 18 freemen, while the town 
of Burrillville sends but 1 for every 126 freemen ; 
the town of Scituate 1 for every 184 freemen ; the 
town of Smithfield 1 for eveiy 289 freemen ; and 
the city of Providence one for every 360 freemen. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 4f 

Thus we see that as much political authority might 
be wielded by one man in the town of Jamestown^ 
as by seven in the town of Burrillville ; ten men in 
the town of Scituate, sixteen men in the town of 
Smithfield, and 20 men in the city of Providence ! l 

It will be easily seen by this exposition, that therd 
is always opportunity for the muiority to control the 
majority: and whenever the local interests of th» 
one come into collision with those of the other, can 
they be expected not to do so ? What can be mor® 
important in a State, than a just and equal apportion- 
ment of taxes ? And yet the late system of Repre- 
sentation (which is but slightly ameliorated in the 
present) had both the interest to sustain, and th& 
power to perpetuate, an apportionment unequal and 
unjust as we have seen abc^e. Is there not here 
something more grevioiis than a penny tax on tea? 

Was it designed by our ever-honored founders 
that such inequality should exist ? Unquestion- 
ably not. Could the venerated Roger Williams now 
see the wrong done to his beloved ProvidencEj 
whose name hallows it as a City of Refuge from 
Oppression, his dust would be troubled in its dis- 
honored grave ; and he would indignantly start 
forth, to rebuke with awful severity, his weak and 
vascillating successors ; while he girded on one© 
more the armor of Truth and Right, grasping again 
the old familiar standard of Liberty, to lead on 
the ranks of Reform towards that sublime point of 
eternal Justice, which his penetrating eye so clearlf 



saw 



Thirdly. They consider the Law of Proiogehf- 
iTURE, as it places the mere accident of birth para- 
mount to natural ability, or moral character, highly 
unjust and oppressive ; and, therefore, ought to be 
abolished, as a rem lant of feudal barbarism, which 
is subversive of the very first principles of Democ- 
racy. " Primogeniture," says Paine, " is a law 
6 



48 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

against every law of Nature ; and Nature, herself, 
calls for its destruction." And yet this corporation 
of Aristocracy, although, confessedly, man has no 
power to give away the rights of posterity, continue 
to " cram Hereditary Right down the throats of the 
vulgar — " as if the world should never outgrow its 
swaddling-clothes, and might be held in leading- 
strings forever. 

Fourthly. They consider the act of propounding 
and creating freemen, as a ridiculous mockery of 
power — at once degrading to the receiver, and an 
arrogant assumption of power in the donor. It is 
not sufficient that a man should have even the re- 
quired amount of property, but he must be pro- 
pounded, and pronounced free — the seal of his 
freedom depending entirely upon the will of the 
Town Meeting. This is what no man of dignity 
and common sense should submit to — inasmuch as 
freedom, being an inherent qualit}^, pre-existing in 
our nature, it is impious for any man — or any body 
of men - — to claim the power of conferring it — most 
impious in professed Republicans. It is, indeed, so 
pitiful a sight — this Republican-Legislative gift of 
freedom to man, as might " make the angel's weep," 
if they did not laugh outright, at the ridiculousness 
of the farce, which man is wont to get up from time 
to time, on the narrow " boards" of Legislative 
Authority, and rehearse, and act, with such supreme 
gravity. Is not the genius simia very frequently 
represented among us ; nay, is it not possible that 
our High Places are desecrated to " Apism ?" One 
might fear, from all this inane chattering, that man 
is really losing the soul out of him ; so nearly does 
he come to resemble, both in language and action, 
his four-handed brother of the East. But courage, 
Reader ! His soul is not lost. It is only forgotten. 
In the fulness of time it shall be remembered, and 
reinstated in its true place ; though it may be in a 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 49 

condition much cramped and palsied with long dis- 
use — or more probably misuse. 

Fifthly, The non-freeholders of Rhode Island, 
being ineligible to act as Jurors, cannot he tiHed by a 
jury of their peers. Neither can any non-freeholder 
undertake a case at law, upon his own right, unless 
he procure the name of some freeholder to be en- 
dorsed on the writ. The law took no cognizance of 
man, as man; but only of a landed-property-adjunct, 
worth $134 — this was the only recognizable man 
in Rhode Island. Is not the badge of servitude 
fearfully visible here ? 

Sixthly. The General Assembly is not only a 
Legislative body, but also the Highest Court of 
Appeal. In other States the Judicature is a distinct 
and independent body ; and, therefore, can interpose 
a check upon the Legislative power — But so it was 
not, and is not here. The Legislature may enact 
any laws, however odious ; and enforce them, being 
subject to neither rebuke or question, from any 
higher power. It may be safely laid down as a 
general principle, that the Legislative body should 
never be trusted with discretionary power over the 
Elective Right, or the Judiciary. The learned 
Chancellor Kent speaks expressly to this point, in 
the first volume of his Commentaries, page 207. 
^' The power of making laws is the supreme power 
in a state ; and the department in which it resides 
Avill naturally have such a preponderance in the po- 
litical system, and act with such mighty force upon 
the public mind, that the line of separatio7i between 
that and the other branches of the government ought 
to be MARKED VERY DISTINCTLY, and With the most 
careful precision.'''' Cluite contrary to this opinion 
has been the connection between the Legislative and 
Judicial Departments of our Government. One in- 
stance will show the dangerous tendency of such a 
position, which, as the case is both interesting and 



BO MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

important, I shall be permitted to give at some length, 
for the benefit of those who are not well read in the 
*' Memoirs of the Rhode Island Bar." 

In the state of frightful embarrassment immedi- 
ately following the Revolution, when the bills which 
Congress had negotiated in Holland for the purpose 
of paying off the army, had returned unpaid and 
protested, and laden with the extra burden of heavy 
damages, the salvation of the Republic appeared at 
stake and the most sanguine hearts were shaken with 
fear — hearts that had borne up bravely under all 
the doubts and horrors of a protracted warfare, now 
became stricken with dread, and almost hopeless. 
In this crisis, the merchants, prompted by immense 
profits, exported all the gold and silver from the 
country, in order to exchange them for commodities 
which were much needed. So scarce was money, 
that the borrower had to pay twenty per cent, per 
annum, interest ; and sometimes four per cent, per 
month. The brave but broken-down soldiers had 
returned home, penniless, and their families were 
clamorous with cries of, "what shall we eat ?" and, 
"what shall we drink?" and "wherewithal shall 
we be clothed?" In this dilemma a band of politi- 
cal gamblers came forward, and succeeded in per- 
suading the people that they had discovered the 
Midas-secret — the art of converting, by their magic 
touch, the most worthless substance into gold. They 
obtained a great majority in favor of their project — 
the ruinous project of issuing a paper currency 
without any metallic basis ; for as the drowning man 
will catch at an offered straw, so the distracted bank- 
rupt will seize any apparent means of rescue, how- 
ever inedicient it may prove to be. 

The General Assembly, in 1786, emitted the enor- 
mous sum of £100,000 of paper money in bills, en- 
acting farther, that such currency should be a good 
and lawful tender, to be used instead of money. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 51 

These bills soon fell into discredit ; and some of us 
can now remember of hearing onr fathers and grand- 
fathers, tell of a plienomenon frequently seen in 
those days, never perhaps seen in any other — that 
of a creditor running away from liis debtor, to avoid 
' receipting for tlie payment of his note ! 

But at the session of the following June, the Ge- 
neral Assembly, after a long preamble, setting forth 
the excellences of their plan, passed an Act, making 
it criminal to refnse their paper bills as money, to 
make any difference between them and gold and 
silver ; to discourage the passing of them ; or to de- 
preciate them in any way ; the forfeiture being, for 
the first offence, a fine of £100, with a loss of eli- 
gibility to any oifice of trast, profit, or honor, in the 
State. In August again, a special session of the Le- 
gislature was convened — making three sessions in 
four months — and all to promote the wild experi- 
ment of converting paper into gold. At this last 
session it was enacted, after a preamble which it 
would be well for the admirers of our time-honored 
institntions to study, as an instance of bare-faced as- 
sumption of despotic power, that if any person should 
refuse to receive the bills as coin, he should be cited 
before a special court, in three days, and there stand 
his trial without a jury. And judgment was to be 
forthwith executed — and such judgment was to be 
final, exclusive, and without appeal. There is our 
HONORABLE General Assembly, in full length and 
fair colors ! And have we not had in these days, in- 
stances of tyranny as hellish as that act was intend- 
ed to be ? An Act that was well described by Rufus 
King. /' Its red was red as blood. Its black was 
black as Tartarus." Can the annals of any civil-., 
ISED Government produce a parallel to the abovb 
acts ? And, further, all the freemen in the State 
were required to swear, or affirm, that they would 
use their endeavors to give the paper money a cur- 
5* 



52 MIGHT AND RIGHT- 

rency equal to gold and silver ; and, upon their fail- 
ing to do so, " were punished as for willful and 

CORRUPT PERJURY." 

But the catastrophe drew near. In September, 
1786, the case of Trevett vs. Weeden, arose. The 
pin 11' tiff had bought meat of the defendant, who 
was a butcher, and offering him the paper bills, was 
refused. Gen. Varniim was counsel for the defend- 
ant ; and but for his steadfast and straight-forward 
earnestness, his patriotism, his love of truth and jus- 
tice, a deadly precedent might have been established, 
and the vital energies of ihr young Republic have 
become paralyzed forever ! To use the wxrds of the 
eloquent Mr. Updike, " He happily elevated the 
court above the tramiiiels of party, and made them 
feel conscious of the high responsibility of their 
situation, and compelled them to feel that they were 
no longer ' paper money' tools, mechanically to per- 
form the works of a junto, but robed as judges, ex- 
pounding the law, and the constitution." His ap- 
peal to the magxianuDily of the Bench was not in 
vain. " The Court adjudged that the amended acts 
of the Legislature were unconstitutional, and so, 
void." 

Nov/ ma; k the authoritative and dictatorial man- 
date of the Gonerol Assembly, as may be seen on their 
Record to this day. " vfhereas, it appears that the 
honorable Justices of the Supreme Court of Judica- 
ture, Court of Assize, (S6C., at their last September 
term of said Court, declared, and adjudged, an act of 
the Supreme Legislature of this State, to be uncon- 
stitutional, and so absolutely void. And whereas, it 
is siiggested that the aforesaid judgment is unprece- 
dented in this State, o.nd may tend to abolish the 
legislative authority thereof, it is voted and re- 
solved^ that all the justices of the said Court, be 
forthwith cited by the Sheriff of the respective coun- 
ties in v/hich they live, or may be found, to give 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 53 

their immediate attendance on this Assembly, to as- 
sign the reason and grounds of their aforesaid judg- 
ment.^'' They were summoned in this imperative 
manner, and that without ordinary notice. After a 
tedious and protracted trial, which was urged with 
the greatest violence by the prosecuting party ; who 
would be satisfied with nothing but dispossessing the 
Judges from their places, and so making them an 
example, the latter were finally acquitted. Their 
acquittal was mamly owing to Gen. Varnum, who 
undertook their defence, and in a series of eloquent 
appeals seldom equalled, and never surpassed, he 
overpowered all opposition, and produced such a 
strong reaction upon the public sentiment and feel- 
ing, that the General Assembly, seeing their case 
utterly hopeless, were glad to capitulate. But no 
thanks to them; for justice was extorted, not Ireely 
rendered. We see here that the prmcipleslaid (iown 
in Magna Charta, were violated by acts incompatible^ 
even with the rights of British subjects ! Had not 
the General Assembly possessed the power to )nake 
and unmake Judges, at least once a year, would they 
have dared, in the first place, to create those odious 
laws, and then follow up their course by such a high- 
handed act of tyranny and usurpation as the al; ove ? 
Men of Rhode Island, ponder well this lesson. The 
danger IS not over yet ! Your liberties are still in 
the hands of the successors of that same General As- 
sembly. Through this defect in our government, 
wise and thinking men have long seen a dangerous 
perspective in the Future ; and their view was 
brought fearfully nigh in the terrors of Martial Law, 
which to this day has never been repealed. 

Seventhly : They consider that as the law? of a 
country regulate, not only its natural wealth, but 
also all the fruits of human skill, genius, and ijidus- 
trf , and are capable of reaching, not only the earn- 
ings, but the liberty and life of any citizen, the man 



54 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

who is denied his voice in making laws, which he 
is, nevertheless, compelled to obey, is, in the fullest 
sense, a slave. All his rights are at the disposal of 
others, and he can enjoy even liberty and life, but 
by courtesy, as it were — and only so far as his self- 
constituted Rulers think them worthless ; or from 
some motives of policy, dare not take them away. 
And not only are the above positions true, but it is 
to be presumed that laws framed by an exclusive 
class, would, almost necessarily, have regard to the 
interests of that class, though they may annihilate 
the interests, and rights, of every other. 

Finally: They object, altogether, to the strong 
concentration of power, which is vested in the Ge- 
neral Assembly — a power which is guarded by no 
constitutional provisions, and is amenable for its 
abuses to no earthly power, but the court of a foreign 
Monarchy. The Assembly had, or rather claimed, 
the right to fix the right of freedom at just what 
amount they pleased ; so that although it may be 
graciously permitted at one time — to adopt the 
kingly phrases which please their ear the best — by 
their " especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere 
motion," that it should be only §134 ; still they 
might, as legally and rightfully, fix the terms at 
$134,000 ; and thus constitute an Assembly of Lords, 
from which the great body of the People would be 
forever excluded. Will any one say there is no dan- 
ger of this ? Let me ask him what security against 
it he can see ? I perceive none. But facts show to 
the contrary. The Legislature have repeatedly 
changed the qualification — the particulars of which 
changes were given in a former chapter — and who 
shall say that they may not, by their own sovereign 
will, or more sovereign caprice, change it again, and 
that for the worse ? 

Finally: They considered that as " Gorernment 
derives all its just power from the consent of the gov- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 55 

erned/' and a large majority of the people had never, 
by any public act, or any written Instrument, con- 
sented to the Government of this State, they no 
longer regarded themselves as the subjects thereof, 
but they were determined to put their own hands to 
the work, and form a constitution that should take 
cognisance of the interests, and the manhood, of the 
whole people. These are their grounds of com- 
plaint, and they are ready to submit them, not to the 
few lordling usurpers of the Rhode Island Oligarchy, 
but to the neighboring States — the United States — 
to good men and true, the world over. Let their 
Principles be tried by the Declaration of Independ- 
ence ; by the Constitution of the United States ; by 
the writings of the British Patriots ; by those of the 
greatest American Statesmen ; by every Instrument, 
and by every principles which Americans hold sa- 
cred, and as they prove true or false, they are will- 
ing to stand, or fall. 

But, to touch once more upon a point lately dis- 
missed. If Rhode Island possessed the right to dis- 
franchise her citizens in regard to the choice of state 
officers, could she have a right to prevent them from 
taking part in the election of officers under the Ge- 
neral Government ? The Government of this coun- 
try was the result of a long and bloody war — a war 
in which Rhode Island was the first to put life and* 
limb in jeopardy, and in which the Fathers of Rhode 
Island toiled, and suffered, and bled, to sustain the 
principle of the natural equality of man. To serve in 
that war no property qualification was required ; and 
to our everlasting shame be it spoken, many of our 
bravest men, with the gallant Barton at their head, 



* The British schooner Gaspee was taken Jnne 17th, 1772, 
just four years preceedinor the battle of Bunker Hill, when Lieu- 
tenant Duddington, the commander, was badly wounded. On 
this Rhode Island established her claim to having spilled the 
riRST BLOOD in the Revolution. 



56 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

remained to their death, galled by the fetters of po- 
litical slavery — unpossessed of the blessing which 
they had purchased with life-peril, and bitter suffer- 
ing, and sealed with their blood ! A few of these 
are left even now ; nor will the pealing cannon, nor 
our loudest boastings, nor triumphal martial melo- 
dies, on the Fourth of July, quite drown the discord 
of their clanking chains ! Long years of bondage 
have been weakening those old and withered arms, 
which, in the vigor of early manhood, with no shield 
but Truth and Right, bore bravely up the standard 
of young Liberty, amid the embattled of Hosts of Op- 
pression and Slavery : and we are reaping the fruits 
of their toil, casting out the unrewarded Laborer 
therefrom ! Shame ! Shame ! 

Are not the sons of those who established the 
right of man to self-government, heirs of that right ? 
And should they longer permit an arrogant and 
usurping Aristocracy — a bribing, cheating, corrupt- 
ing Aristocracy — to rule over them? God forbid. 
Unworthy, then, were they to accept, and carry out, 
the high mission for which every American citizen 
should conceive himself sent into the world — to be 
an Apostle of Liberty — to preach the doctrines of 
Man^s inherent Rights, best exemplified in himself, 
before an enslaved, enslaving, and slavish world ! 



CHAPTER lY. 

THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT. 

This age is peculiarly and remarkable an age of 
transition — of reform. The spirit of liberty which 
was aroused in the last ages has been very far trans- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 57 

cended in this. Men are beginmg to look beyond, 
and higher, than mere physical freedom, and to per- 
ceive that there is something loftier and purer than 
that liberty which has too often been made the 
theme of empty declamation. The masses of men 
are beginning to understand something of them- 
selves — and, consequently, of their correlative du- 
ties and rights. They catch occasional glimpses as 
it were, of the long-obscured inner light — a light 
long hidden, but not exhausted ; and, as it bright- 
ens more and more, they are turnmg lo the study of 
themselves — their nature — then' character — their 
rights — their duties — then* destiny, with astonish- 
ment, and reverence, and awe. This one fact in 
view, it will be seen that there must be revolution — 
either political, mental, or moral, according to the 
circumstances in which any community of people 
may be placed. But simultaneously with these 
changes has been developed a very important princi- 
ple, namely, an increased tenderness for human hfe, 
and human happiness. The great sentiment of the 
age is THE LOVE OF Man. There are many, indeed, 
who are striving to the utmost to retard the onward 
movements of Humanity — and such are all monop- 
olizing corporations — as Capitalists, and Aristocra- 
cies — whither hereditary or temporary; but the 
impetus is too strong to be easily checked ; and ob- 
stacles overcome will only accelerate the progress. 
The spirit of the age will not long permit some men 
to live sumptously, and fatten on the labor of oth- 
ers — while the poor laborer, himself, is starving. 
! No exclusive bodies of men — no Aristocracies — 
I will long continue. " Mene tekel" is already written 
j upon their walls. The days of their wrong are num- 
; bered. They must be weighed in the balance, and 
found wanting ; and their kingdom shall be divided. 
The repealers of Ireland, the Chartists of England, 
the Free Suffrage men of Rhode Island are awake, 



58 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

and acting ; and what man, or what body of men, 
may have sufficient magnetic power to reproduce the 
state of inanity from which they have been so effect- 
ually, roused — to parahze, and put them to sleep! 
Can all the LordS; Spiritual and Temporal, of Eng- 
land do it? Can even the General Assembly of 
Rhode Island ? Every man that is a man, indig- 
nandy, and determinately, must answer: " NO." 

Although the progress of our Cause was early 
treated v/ith silent contempt by our opposers ; and 
then, Yv hen they could but see that we were doing 
sometliing^ regarded as a mere farce ; yet all who 
looked into tiie matter with a philosophic eye, could 
see the foot-prints of Human Liberty, as it were sen- 
sible impressed upon the passing times, illuminated 
with a strong light of truth, which would no longer 
suffer them to be hidden. This, as I have said be- 
fore, is not a question of mere sectional interest, nor 
one which may be circumscribed by the narrow 
boundaries of a political party ; for it is founded on 
a principle in which every human being must, soon- 
er or later, feel an interest. The issue of this great 
question, whether government is instituted for the 
good of the people, or for its own especial preroga- 
tive — the people being bound to sustain it, though 
it be 1.0 the prejudice of their own rights, contains a 
principle which cannot, in this our day, be crushed 
and smothered, without violating the common sense 
of mankind ; and checking, in no inconsiderable de- 
gree, the progress of light and liberty. The decis- 
ion which is now making, and the course of action 
wliich leads to it, will not, alone, affect us and our 
posterity. The neighboring States will feel and be 
affected by it. The North will feel it. The Re- 
publics of Central and Southern America will feel 
it ; until, finally, throughout the whole earth, the 
chain wdl be forged, or the fetter broken, according 
as we prove ourselves bond or free. It is in this 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 61 

wide relationship to all Humanity that I consider 
the question ; and so all wise and thinking men 
among us regard it. But I will leave these reflec- 
tions, and proceed to narrate, plainly and briefly as 
possible, some of the principal actions and events 
which have marked our course. 

By the War of the Revolution the Government of 
Rhode Island was resolved into its original elements. 
The allegiance to the British Crown was abrogated ; 
and, with it, the British Charter became an absolute 
nullity. It could not be otherwise ; nor could all 
the talk and boasting of the last fifty years, some- 
what loud though they were, and tedious to hear — 
make it other than a dead body — dress it — and 
decorate it as they might — it was still dead ; and 
he who would prove otherwise must first prove that 
the People of Rhode Island were, up to the year 
1841, rightfully subject to the British Crown. By 
the War of the Revolution the Sovereignty of the 
People was established — though, by the revelations 
of these days, we find it is to he established over 
again. It then became the right of the People, as a 
whole body, either to adopt the Charter as the Law 
of the State, or to reject it, and frame a constitution 
upon republican principles. They have never done 
either. They were never permitted to do the one, 
nor asked to do the other. The non-freeholders 
being i|Pisidered as serfs, their seal of approbation 
was in no wise considered necessary to the validity 
of any public document. Being thus disfranchised, 
they had no power, in the accepted sense of the 
term, to act legally ; and the continuation of the old 
government without their consent — which was 
never even asked for — was clearly a usurpation of 
their rights, and m violation of Section IV, Article 
IV, of the Constitution of the United State^ which 
guarantees to every State in the Union a Republican 
form of Government. 
6 



62 MIGHT AND RIGHf. 

It has been urged, on the other hand, that the 
People did, by their silence, assent to the Govern- 
Tient ; because, at the time they did not protest 
igainst it, submitting to the law of the strongest 
without complaint. Other Republicans do not jus- 
tify them, if American Republicans claim such as- 
lent, as the rightful grounds of instituting a govern- 
nent. Algernon Sydney, volume 1, page 415, after 
laving shown some reasons why sufferance gives no 
:;onsent in such cases, says, page 416. " And those 
who are under such governments, do no more assent 
to them though they may be silent, than a man ap- 
proves of being robbed, when, without saying a 
word, he delivers his purse to a thief that he knows 
to be too strong for him. 

" It is not, therefore, the bare sufferance of a gov- 
ernment, when a disgust is declared, nor a silent 
submission when the power of opposing is wanting, 
that can imply an assent, or election, or create a 
right ; but an explicit act of approbation, when men 
have ability and courage to resist or deny." 

This " explicit" act of approbation was never 
shown. There is no act on record, either munici- 
pal j judicial, or legislative^ bearing the seal and sanc- 
tion of the whole people of Rhode Island. It is 
marvellous ; and it will stand as a recorded wonder 
to all generations, that so large and intelligent a 
majority, with such a precedent as the^fieneral 
Government before their eyes, and with such ex- 
amples as the sister States around, should so long 
have submitted to the sway of a despotic minority — 
a condition of worse than colonial bondage • for had 
they remained subject to the King, to the King 
could they have applied for a redress of grievances ; 
but from the hydra-headed tyrant of Rhode Island, 
the Gerif^ral Assembly) there is no redress, and no 
appeal. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 63 

Soon after Rhode Island entered the confedera- 
tion — which she did in 1790, there began to be 
popular movements in favor of an equalized Repre- 
sentation, and an extension of Suffrage ; but without 
success. In 1811 the subject was renewed; and a 
bill to extend Suffrage to all who performed military 
duty, or paid taxes, was introduced. This bill was 
passed by the Senate, but was lost in the House of 
Representatives. But the spirit was not subdued. 
In 1819, and the three following years, the senti- 
ment was gathering depth and strength ; and per- 
haps failure only added to its yet-latent force. But 
little was done, however, more than to keep the 
subject alive, until 1824, when a convention was 
called by the General Assembly, for the purpose of 
forming a State Constitution. Thio convention 
recommended an, equanzed Representation. They 
drafted, and proposed to the freemen a Constitution, 
which was voted down by a large majority ; and a 
motion to extend Suffrage to others besides Land- 
holders, received but three votes. This might 
have been anticipated by one at all acquainted either 
with the organizing body, or the general principle, 
that a privileged class guards its privileges with a 
jealous eye ; and the last thing, perhaps, which men 
relinquish, voluntarily, is power. But still the fire 
was not quenched. The claim of man to manhood, 
and all its prerogatives, was made the subject of 
frequent discourse, of petitions, and of public lec- 
tures. 

In 1829 renewed interest on this subject was ex- 
cited. The disfranchised inhabitants, particularly 
those of Providence, began to have little gatherings, 
which gradually increased to large assemblies. Pe- 
titions were presented to the General Assembly, one 
of which, signed by nearly two thousand persons, 

is so far j^espected as to be made the subject of a 
)ort. These Memorialists after introducing them- 



€4 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

selves as " permanent residents of the State of Rhode 
Island," proceed to enumerate the political abuses 
under which they labored, praying for redress — but 
without asking for universal Suftrage. The whole 
tone of the Memorial is at once respectful and manly ; 
and I cannot think that the Reporting Committee 
paid much attention to it, or they could not, as gen- 
tlemen, as men, have replied so insultingly to a doc- 
mxient, which, both from the number of its signers, 
and the spirit of its contents, was eminently entitled 
to consideration and respect. 

But let us give a passing glance at the Report, 
which was presented by the late Benjamin Hazard, 
one of the most distinguished members of the House 
of Representatives. It commences with the decla- 
ration that " the Committee have not thought it 
necessary to enquire particinarly, .how many of the 
signers are native citizens of the State." Of course 
not. There is always danger of making enquiries 
in such cases, as the General Assembly have since 
felt. A questionable right, or title, is always safer 
in the dark. After very courteously informing the 
petitioners that they have leave to withdraw their 
petitions from the House, and themselves from the 
State, the first paragraph ends. 

He next proceeds to show that " the right of Suf- 
frage, as it is the origin and basis of every free-elec- 
tive government, so is it the peculiar and exclusive 
prerogative of the people ; and cannot^ without in- 
fringing that prerogative^ he subjected to any other 
control than that of the people themselves. If repre- 
sentatives of the people chosen for the ordinary pur- 
poses of legislation, could assume a control over this 
right ; to hmit, curtail, or extend it, at will, they 
might disfranchise any portion they pleased, of their 
own electors ; might deprive them of the power ever 
to remove them ; and thus reduce the g%vernmer]J|to 
a permanent aristocracy." Most heartily do we™- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 05 

spond to this declaration. We claim the right of 
Suffrage, as " the peculiar and exclusive prerogative 
of the people ;" and because it is not in the hands of 
the people, but is controlled, altogether, by a favored 
class, and their legislators, we fear that the govern- 
ment ivill be reduced to " a permanent Aristocracy." 
Experience, as well as reason, teaches us that the 
prerogative thus held can never be safe ; and, there- 
fore, we would place it beyond the power of legisla- 
tors to disturb or injure. He speaks a great deal of 
the ^' sound''' part of the community. Does he 
mean by that term to represent the Bankrupt Aris- 
tocracy, who have so long controlled the affairs of 
Rhode Isla,nd ? Would not the term be at least as 
well applied to the respectable Mechanics, Trades- 
men, and Operatives, by whose unpaid labors many 
of our noble swindlers are sustained ? He distin- 
guishes the Memorialists and their party as '^ loose 
and floating population ;" though they assert them- 
selves to be permanent residents of the State. Most 
gentlemanly and courteous, to say the least, thus to 
give the lie-direct to a body of almost two thousand 
men ! But the prerogatives were so very safe, and 
the power so strong, and the Rulers so noble, and 
the People so servile, there could be no danger f no 
disgrace ! What should Omnipotence have to fear ? 
But the Reporter in some degree justifies himself for 
his most sovereign contempt, by representing the 
Memorialists as a degraded portion of the community 
— as aliens, the rabble, and the like. 

Again, page 6, he says ; '' The restrictions, by 
which the welfare of society requires that the elec- 
tive franchise should be controlled, do not at all 
clash with the great truths which we all embrace : — 
that the people alone are sovej'eign ; and the source 
of all poioer ; tfiat governments are instituted solely 
for their good ; and that the majority ought to gov- 
ern.^^ He then very gravely proceeds to neutralize 
6* 



66 MIGHT' AND RIGHT. 

those important truths, by defining the People as 
the " Freemen" — that is to say, the manufactured 
MEN. It seems by this definition that God is not 
Almighty, as has been foohshly enough beheved. — 
He cannot make " Freemen," or even " People ;" 
but this higher power has been held in reserve by 
the General Assembly and Town Meetings of 
Rhode Island ! What new systems of Philosophy 
and Theology may grow out of this newly-discov- 
ered truth, I cannot attempt to predict. The politi- 
cal theory which may be established thereupon is 
somewliat more apparent. 

The Reporter next goes on to draw a comparison 
between the masses of Rhode Island, and these of 
South Carolina, in such a manner as to show that 
he ranks them together — that he believes the white 
laborers of liis native State, are to be placed on a 
level with the slaves of South Carolina ; and this by 
more than implication ; for he says directly : " We 
have included the slaves of South Carolina, because, 
whatever their condition, they ore still a part of the 
people, AS MUCH as those of other descriptions, 
who, on accoimt of other qualif cations, are exclu- 
ded from the exercise of the right of Suffrage." 
And, simply adding, that the gentleman, in the fer- 
vor of his patriotism, deprecates the idea of making 
*' our country, everyhodi/s country," I dismiss the 
Report, which truly deserves notice only for the 
high-handed atrocity of its doctrines. 

This Report, insulting as it was to the very name 
of manhood, was adopted by the Oligarchy, and 
printed by their order. It was openly and unblu sh- 
ingly exulted in, as the most effectual rebuke which 
the white slaves of Rhode Island had ever met at 
the hand of their lordly masters. Here it will be 
proper to say, that these petitioners were, mostly, the • 
honest and stable mechanics, laborers, and yeomen 
of the State ; and that they made a very large por- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 67 

tion of the temperance men, the friends of social 
improvement, and moral rectitude in Rhode Island ; 
yet they were villified by the foulest slanders, and 
became the subject of every abusive epithet which 
malice or falsehood could invent. The high autho- 
rity of the press was prostituted. Instead of respond- 
ing indignantly to the audacious claims set forth in 
the Report, and vindicating itself as the Palladium 
of liberty, it became the engine of despotism — the 
vile pander of the General Assembly, to echo, and 
re-echo their doctrines — to distort and exaggerate, 
if possible, every malicious insinuation, and every- 
false charge. 

In 1832 another attempt was made by the people 
to obtain their rights ; but, like the preceding ones, 
was destined to failure. 

In 1833 the question was brought up anew, and 
weekly meetings at the Town House were held for 
its discussion. A correspondence was also opened 
on the subject with John Q^uincy Adams, and Fran- 
cis Baylies, each of the letters from Rhode Island 
being signed by six persons, those sending the letter 
to Mr. Baylies subjoining their trades to their proper 
signatures. In his reply Mr. Baylies enters into the 
subject at full length — and ably vindicates the 
popular sovereignty. Mr. Adams is more concise, 
but he no less satisfactorily answers the question 
asked ; namely, whether " the best part of the citi- 
zens of Massachusetts regret the extension of Suf- 
frage in that State ; and would willingly adopt the 
Rhode Island plan, were it practicable to do so ?" It 
should here be said, that the Suffrage party were 
continually told that the people of Massachusetts 
were extremely dissatisfied with their system of 
Suffrage, and would willingly change it for the 
Rhode Island Charter system, if they could. Mr. 
Hazard says this of the Free Suffrage system in 
general — ''by us untried, and tried by others only 



68 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

to manifest its mischievous effects^ and the fallacy of 
the principle ripon which it is predicated.^^ As the 
letter of Mr. Adams is short, and also contains a di- 
rect contradiction of this assertion, I insert it entire, 
to show what falsehoods were resorted to, in order 
to deceive the people. 

duFNCT, May 10th, 1833. 

Gentlemen : I have received your letter of the $22d of last 
month, enquiring my opinion with regard to the adoption in the 
State of Rhode Island of the mode of practice, in Massachusetts, 
of the political right of Suffrage. 

The administration of the Government, and the modification of 
the Constitution in each State of this Union, are exclusively at 
the disposal of the people of the State itself. As the point upon 
which your enquiries turn, is one upon which, I conclude from 
your letter, that there is a great diversity of opinions among the 
people of your State, it might be considered obtrusive; in giving 
his opinion, for a stranger to pronounce on one side or the other.. 
The right of Suffrage is, in every State of the Union, subject to 
come limitation, but scarcely any two States have the same. 

With the system of voting established in Massachusetts, so far 
as concerns the right of voting, I do not know that there is any 
dissatisfaction among the people. If there were, it is probable 
measures would be taken for amending, in that respect, the Con'- 
stitution. I see no occasion for dissatisfaction with it, myself, 
and feel none. Whether it would be expedient for the people of 
Rhode Island to adopt, I am not competent to give an opinion, 
deserving to be considered of any authority. Were it otherwise, 
I would cheerfully give it, in compliance with yom- desire, beings 
With great respect and consideration, 

Your fellow citizen, 

J. Q. ADAMS. 



Messrs. Wm, J. Tillinghast, 
Lawrence Richards, 
William Mitchell, 
Seth Luther, 
William Miller, 
David Brown, 



Providence, R. L 



In this same year, May 10th, a meeting of those 
favorable to the adoption of the Massachusetts mode 
of Suffrage was held at the old Town House, at 
which a committee appointed at a primary meeting, 
holden April 19th, made their Report, which in a 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 69 

very spirited manner, set forth the claims of the non- 
freeholders. 

It is now my pleasant duty to make record of 
more strenuous exertion, and vigorous measures. In 
1834 many individuals in the State associated them- 
selves together, and organised a party, for the ex- 
press purpose of obtaining, by political action, an 
extension of Suffrage. Invitations were given from 
the towns of Smithfield and Cumberland to several 
of the larger towns ; and, pursuant to these, their 
delegates assembled at Providence to deliberate npon 
the best course to be pursued for the establishment 
of a written State Constitution, that should properly 
define and fix the powers of the several departments 
of the government, and secure the rights of the citi- 
zens. This convention assembled at Providence on 
the 22dday of February ; and also again on the 12th 
day of March, 1834. At the first meetmg a commit- 
tee was appointed to prepare an Address to the peo- 
ple of the State ; and at the second meeting the Ad- 
dress was read and adopted. Of that Committee, 
Thomas W. Dorr was Chairman. The Address is 
a noble and manly production ; dignified, yet cour- 
teous — calmly and clearly setting forth the claims of 
Right. It bore, in short, the mental image of its au- 
thor, the YOUNG Champion of Liberty, who with a 
moral courage which few, not having been in Rhode 
Island, can correctly appreciate, had just then thrown 
off the trammels of social and hereditary bondage, 
which would have bound him forever to the inter- 
ests of a narrow clique. Disregarding alike the en- 
treaties of friends and the prospect of success, and 
high distinction, which, from his position and talents 
would have been pre-eminently secure, he volnntarily 
became the Friend and Advocate of the poor, the 
weak, the suffering, the enslaved ; and, with the 
godlike vigor of a young Hercules, he began battering 
away upon the huge black walls of Oppression, and 



70 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

of Wrong; resting not, yet fainting not — for he 

KNEW THAT THEY MUST FALL. And wllCH the CVentS 

of this period become incorporated with. the History 
of the Past, let it be held in everlasting remembrance, 
that against the State-Despotism, Thomas Wilson 
Dorr, the destined Liberator of Rhode Island, struck 
the first well -aimed and eilective blow. Immediate- 
ly after the Convention alluded to above, the Assem- 
bly began, for the first time, to exhibit .symptoms of 
alarm ; and several influential citizens came to the 
wonderful conclusion that something sJioidd certai7i' 
ly he done. Pursuant to this resolution, or rather 
subterfuge, another Convention was called ; but still 
NOT of the People, in the Republican sense, but only 
in the Rhode Island sense — as will be understood 
by the fact that a motion for the extension of Suf- 
frage received seven votes. 

The Constitutional party held another Convention 
in 1837 ; at which they passed some strong Resolu- 
tions, and took higher ground. A nominating Com- 
mittee was also appointed, with instructions to pro- 
pose for the support of the Constitutional Party, in 
the coming April, a Ticket of State Officers favora- 
ble to their principles ; and to report a Ticket of 
candidates friendly to the same, for the next election i 
of Members to the Congress of the United States. 
But after all, no visible progress was made ; and 
after a manful struggle of four years, the party ex- 
pired, without having wrought any perceptible 
change upon the fixed determination always to sus- 
tain the present Sufi'rage laws. 

At the .January session of the General Assembly, 
in 1840, an Act to regulate the Militia was intro- 
duced, and passed by that body. This Act made it 
a crime for any man to refuse to do Military duty. 
A court-martial was established, to impose and col- 
lect fines ; and any refusal to pay such fine, or fines, 
subjected the offender to be arrested and cast into 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 71 

prison among the vilest criminals, without being 
allowed any favors usually extended to debtors. 
This barbarous law, it will be seen at once, was a 
direct violation of that clause of the Charter, by 
which liberty of conscience was secured, since there 
were many in the State, whose principles would not 
permit them to bear arms, or to aid in supporting a 
Militia, either by their money, or otherwise. It 
moreover bore with disproportionate heaviness, as 
doubtless it was designed to do, on the non-freehol- 
ders, they doing tlie largest share of military duty. 
The Act of Assembly was the nucleus of the pre- 
sent Free Suffrage Movement. Universal dissatis- 
faction prevailed among the last-mentioned class of 
citizens ; complaints were made, and the subject be- 
came one of general discussion. In these discus- 
sions the Mechanics of Providence took the lead ; 
and after frequent and earnest councils and consulta- 
tions among their friends, they called a meeting at 
Union Hall, for the purpose of considering the best 
means of obtaining an Extension of Sufirage, and 
. an Equal Representation. The night was stormy, 
: and but five persons were present. But those few, 
' like the brave men of Leonidas, had thrown them- 
. selves into the gap, pledging all that they had, and 
, all that they were, resolving to live like men, or, like 
. men, to die in the conflict. The next meeting pre- 

• sented a rise of only from five to nine : but from 
! this period a new impulse was given to the cause ; 
•and the spirit of Hope that had so long deserted 
, them, once more appeared bending her azure pinions 
(above the political horizon. 

j The next meeting was very respectably attended, 
: and no inconsiderable degree of talent, right think- 
: ing, and good feeling were elicited. Resolutions 

• were adopted, expressing strong disapprobation of 
the course of the General Assembly in regard to the 

• Militia Law, and a determination to regain and es- 



72 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

tablish their rights. The spirit that was manifested 
on this occasion, brought great numbers to the meet- 
ings ; and on the 27th of March, a Preamble and 
Constitution were adopted for their future govern- 
ment, under the name of the Rhode Island Sutirage 
Association. The Preamble is a noble document, 
and I will insert it entire. 

PREAMBLE. 

That all men by nature are free and equal, we consider the 
plain and simple doctrine of the American Constitution, and a 
self-evident proposition in itself, and without wJiich, republican- 
ism is hut a name. 

The acquisition of property, however necessary and laudable, 
we hold, neitiicr increases nor multiplies the natural ri;,dits of its 
possessors, nor diminishes the natural rights of tiiose wiio possess 
it not. Inde[)endent of artificial government, no distinction of 
right, privilege, or rank, could exist and be maintained, except 
by force, nor the superiority of one man over another. 

The formation of the social and civil compact, is intended for 
the equal matual benefit and protection of all ; yet, M'ithout a 
perfect equality of rights, no such equality of benefit and protec- 
tion can exist. 

Originally, in a republic, the only voluntary government on 
earth formed by common consent, each person enters the asso- 
ciated body, with his own natural and inalienable rights; and 
which no human power has the rightful authority to wrest from 
him. The only surrender lie makes, and the only compromise 
into which he enters, is, to lay down his personal independence 
for his own security, and to be governed by the majority, for the 
benefit of the whole. In doing this, it is altogether inconceiva- 
ble that any man should, of his own accord, resign the right to 
participate in the selection of members of the body to whom the 
powers of government are to be delegated, and on which selec- 
tion his freedom or slavery, and his ha})piness or misery may de- 
pend : and no longer than the majority shall respect this right, 
can they justly claim his obedience ; and that for the very sound 
and obvious reason, that in so doing, he is to be governed as a 
slave, and not as a freeman. But the distinction by which the 
right of suffrage is made to depend on the possession of property, 
takes away the natural rights of the man by force, and places 
him completely at the mercy of those who will be disposed to op- 
press him. 

If the possession of property were one of the conditions origi- 
nally ordained of heaven, on which were to depend the right of 
man to be free, and to act as a freeman, we could readily under- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 73 

Stand how and why the loss of property should involve the loss 
of those rights also. But when we reflect that all are originally 
destitute, and that all are originally alike free hy nature, it sur- 
passes our comprehension, how or why the accumulation of pro- 
perty by one man, should destroy the natural rights of another. 
Yet precisely to this eifect the laws of Rhode Island operate. A 
large majority of the people of the State, are deprived of all 
voice in tlie government, and of a representation in the legisla- 
tive body: not because of the loss of property by themselves, 
hut because of the accumulation of property by others. By this 
usurpation of despotic power, and its exercise by a minority, 
whose only claim to the exclusive right to govern is based on the 
fortuitous circumstance of wealth, the majority, equally honest, 
lionorable, intelligent, and patriotic, and equally sharing, or will- 
ing to share, the expenses of government, are denied even the 
name of freemen, and in lieu thereof, have entailed upon them 
the first and most degrading attribute of slaves; an attribute of 
which no one con divest himself, under existing circumstances, 
without still farther degradation, in tacitly acknowledging him- 
self rightfully a slave, by purchasing the right to be a freeman. 

All this we consider a gross and palpable infraction of the 
rights which heaven has conferred on every man, and svhich no 
human power has the right to impair; and in violation of the 
Constitution of the United States ; and a principle which con- 
verts the term republican to mockery, when applied to the gov- 
ernment of Rhode Island. 

Against such laws, and such robbery, thus arbitrary and op- 
pressive, we enter our solemn protest; and in the sight of God 
and man, we pledge ourselves to use all honorable means, con- 
sistent with the American Constitution, to procure their abroga- 
tion. 

We consider the government of Rhode Island, a despotism, 
and totally unworthy the name of republican, and having no just 
claim to the confidence and respect of any American citizen. 
She has not, and never had, as an American republican State, 
any compact voluntarily entered into by the people. Her only 
basis of government is an imperfect and almost obsolete instru- 
ment given her by the royal prerogative of a British King, as a 
master prescribes rules for the government of his servants. No 
formal act of the people of the State of Rhode Island has ever 
ratified it. Its only force at first, was the paramount authority of 
the British Crown over its dependent colony ; and, since the 
American Revolution, it has been merely submitted to from the 
difficulty of effecting a change. 

As a republic, Rhode Island is destitute of a government: — 
Destitute, because she has no voluntary compact of the people, 
and no Constitution to prevent the usurpation of the legislative 
body, to define the powers of government, or the right of the 

7 



t*4. MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

citizen. Tliese constitute the only true distinction between a 
republic and a despotism ; and of these Rhode Island is desti-- 
lute, and yet these constitute the only guarantee for the safety of 
her citizens. Her g'overninent is. therefore, a despotisYn, because 
the legislative power is paramount. That body can establish and 
annul, alter and amend, the principles of government at pleasure, 
and enact laws which may continue them in office for life. 

The right of suffrage is the first principle in a republic. In 
all free States it should be confined by constitutional provisions,- 
adopted by the people in their primary capacity ; and tlius placed, 
beyond the power of legislative interference. Otherwise it may 
become the tool of ambitious and selfish legislators, — be altered 
and amended to their particular views or desires, to the injury of 
the State, and to the destruction of individual rights. By the 
present system, the legislature may at any time increase the num- 
ber of votes, by diminishing the amount of property qualifica- 
tion, or they may diminish the number by an opposite mode of 
procedure, so as to place the control of the aftairs of State, at 
the ballot boxes, into the hands of one-fourth, one-eighth, or one- 
sixteenth, of her citizens ; and there is no principle of our govern- 
ment to prevent it. Such a power is dangerous to the rights of 
any people, and cannot comport with the principles of republi- 
canism* 

Against this whole system we solemnly protest, as one that is 
arbitrary, oppressive, anti-republicon, and disgraceful; and we 
pledge ourselves to use all honorable means in our power, to 
eradicate it from the State. 

The next great principle of a republican form of government, 
and growing out of the former, is an equal representation, all- 
essential to the maintenance of equal rights. This is self-evi- 
dent, because without such equality, the minority may generally 
rule the majority. Our present inequality of representation is 
monstrously unjust. Of seventy-two members which constitute 
the House of Representatives, more than fifty represent less than 
one-half the population of the State. Providence, containing 
one-fitth part of the population of the State, sends but four Re- 
presentatives, while Newport, with less than one-half that pro- 
portion, sends six. Portsmouth, with a population not equal to 
that of one of the six wards of the city of Providence, has a re- 
presentation equal with that of the whole city. Barrington and 
^ Jamestown, with both not more than one hundred voters, have 
each a representation equal to tiiat of any country town, (except 
Warwick,) having three times as many voters and inhabitants as 
both of them. Such is the monstrous absurdity of our system of 
representation. The minority govern t!ie majority at the ballot 
boxes ; and in the House of Representative, the delegates of 
less than one-third may govern the other two-thirds. If this be 
republican, than may we expect to see, ere long, Great Britain, 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 75 

with her throne, her aristocracy, her rotten boroughs, and her 
millions of disfranchised citizens, ranked among modern repub- 
lics. 

Yet worse than this, pi-obably more than twelve thousand free 
citizens of the United States, out of twenty thousand, resident in 
Rhode Island, are entirely unrepresented in the legislative body, 
and deprived of all voice in the government of the State, ihougii 
called on by law to sustain it, and to protect the lives and pro- 
perty of others. They are deprived of the first and most essen- 
tial right of freemen, for the want of a few square feet of land, 
as though those who possessed that qualification were immacu- 
late, and as though those who possess it not, must, in conse- 
quence, be destitute of intelligence, honor, honesty, or love of 
country, and natural and political right. 

We solemnly protest against this flagrant usurpation of power 
over right, as arbitrary, oppressive, and unjust; and which sub- 
jects us to a state of involuntary political servitude, to the abso- 
lute despotism of a domineering minority. The right of suffrage 
we do not ask a favor. We claim it as our own. We demand 
it as a privilege, a right, bestowed upon us by heaven itself, and 
unjustly withheki from us by arbitrary power. God helping, we 
solemnly pledge ourselves, independently of all the political par- 
ties and principles of the day, except the great principles of 
American freedom, steadily to pursue our object till our purpose 
shall have been accomplished, and we find ourselves reinstated 
in the rights which heaven bequeathed us, and which the Ameii- 
can Constitution guarantees. 

Our first appeal is to heaven, for the justice of our cause. 
Next, to the whole people of Rhode Island, to aid our eflbrts 
through the medium of the ballot box. Next, to the General As- 
sembly of the State, to do us justice. These failing, our final 
resort shall be to the Congress of the United States, through an 
assembly of the people, and if need be, to the Supreme Judicial 
Power, to test the force and meaning of that provision in the 
Constitution, which guarantees " to everv State in the Union a 
republican form of government." Our rights, once for all, we 
determine to rescue from the grasp of arbitrary power, and not 
to shrink from the task till it shall have been accomplished. WE 
KNOW OUR RIGHTS, AND KNOWING, DARE MAIN- 
TAIN THEM. 

Let these principles be kept forever, that wher- 
ever men are struggling, amid the devourmg billows 
of Pride and Avarice, which the winds of Tyranny 
are lifting mountain-high, its light may shine forth 
as a guiding star — the watch-fire of those who have 
gone triumphantly over the deep, amid the wildest 



76 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

Storms, cherishing warmly, and bearing safely, their 
dearest treasure — the "pearl of great price" — 
Liberty. 



CHAPTER V. 



MASS CONVENTIONS. 



A TALENTED and efficient member was chosen Pre- 
sident of the Association ; and weekly meetings con- 
tinued to be holden until the following October, 
when the tremendous vortext of the Presidential 
Election, with its Utopian schemes of reform, had so 
absorbed and swallowed up all other public interests, 
that it was judged best to discontinue the meetings, 
until that excitement had somewhat subsided. But 
there were vital questions abroad, and nothing could 
quell them. 

" Is the law of the minority, who happen to possess 
the control of the State — a law to which we have 
never coyisentcd — to be binding on us, and our pos- 
terity, forever ? Must we longer submit to be trod- 
den under foot, and crushed in the dust, by men 
formed, in all respects, and constituted as we are ? 
Are the men of Rhode Island less just, less enlight- 
ened, less patriotic, than their neiglibors, that they 
should be deprived of their rights, and treated like 
bond-slaves ? Are we bound by the acts of our Fa- 
thers ; or is there any immutable law by which men 
may bind their posterity to any defined course of ac- 
tion, or any position in society ? Was this govern- 
ment, indeed, designed by our Fathers, themselves, 
to be a government of the Many, or of the Few? 
Did they not speak understandingly, and with an 
eye to the former, when they called it a ' Demo- 
cracie ' but has their ideal of Freedom been recog- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 77 

nised by their successors ? Would Barton, or Olney, 
or Greene, have recognised the General Asseni'dy's 
definition of ' People ?' Would all these gallant 
spirits, who, when roused by the battle-cry ol Free- 
dom, left their plough-share in the furrow, and sped 
forth to the rescue, have so understood it ? If such a 
thought had possessed them, would they not have 
turned back in sullen sorrow, as from work unwor- 
thy, before they had sealed with their heart's blood 
the badge and the bonds of servitude ? Would they 
not have said that a dragon from the depths below, 
and not the strong-winged Bird of Heaven, should 
be blazoned on our national standard, fitting emblem 
of treachery and unbridled lust of power? Are 
^Hope,' and the 'Anchor,' upon our State's crest, 
to be, for us, forever without meaning ? When re- 
spectfully asking for our Rights is continually treat- 
ed with scorn, shall we not demand them ?" When- 
ever men met together, in the common street, the 
market, shop, and warehouse, at the public meetmg, 
or by the private fire-side, such questions as the 
above were asked ; sometimes with the clear eye of 
faith shining forth in the questioner, but oftener with 
a heavy heart, and a troubled look : and they shall 
be fully answered when the neighboring States — 
the United States — shall be true to Rhode Island 
and Republican principles ; but above all, when 
Rhode Island shall be true to herself I Heaven 
speed the day ! 

When the bustle of the Election was over, the 
President of the Association, Doctor Brown, called a 
meeting. Five, again, was the whole number that 
could be collected together; yet the avowed friends 
of liberty gradually increased ; and, at length, took 
a rapid rise from few to many. 

A weekly paper devoted to the interests of the 
Suffrage Party, and called "The New Age," w^as 
issued about this time ; the first number having ap- 

7* 



78 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

peared on the 20th of November. This sheet was 
ably edited, and well sustained. The name was 
singularly appropriate ; for its friends saw it was the 
herald of a new age — a new era in the Annals of 
Human Liberty, The Suffrage Party took hold of 
the work right manfully, and the paper Avas the 
means of eliciting a great deal of truth, and a great 
deal of talent. 

Suffrage Associations began to be formed in diffe- 
rent parts of the State, and the Promethean fire was 
diffused abroad. A portion of the members of these 
Associations seemed still to retain a ray of faith in 
the Legislature. A petition was drawn up, and 
signed by 5S0 citizens of the State, who would not 
yet believe that the General Assembly would forever 
turn a deaf ear to their oft -repeated cry for justice. 
But the Minority Legislature, at its next session in 
January, 1841, allowed no action to be taken on it. 
It was not reported in the regular minutes of the 
Assembly, but was treated with silent contempt. So 
much for the sacred Right of Petition in Rhode 
Island, under the Oligarchy. But the General As- 
sembly, being amenable only to tlie Government of 
England, could, oi right, (so called) violate any law 
not conflicting with the majesty of that Kingdom. 
At the same session, a memorial from the freemen of 
the town of Smithfield, which had been lying on 
the table for several years, asl{:ing for an additional 
Representative, was called up by the members from 
that town, and urged so strongly, that it was found- 
impossible to get away from it. They, therefore, 
requested the Freeholders to elect delegates to aeon-' 
vention for the purpose of forming a constitution, in 
whole, or in part ; and to show how studiously they 
avoided noticing the greatest want of the people, 
they requested the C( mmittee to pay particular at- 
tention to a more equalised Representation ; whilst 
the Right of Suffrage was wholly neglected. 



|l MIGHT AND RIGHT. 79 

The People at length became satisfied that they 
had nothing to hope from a convention of the Free- 
holders, based upon the rotten borough system of 
representation. After mature deliberation on the 
subject, tlie ablest constitutional lawyers in the 8tate 
were consulted, as well as many distinguished gen- 
tlemen from other States, who ail agreed that the 
principles upon which their claim was based, were 
correct. Encouraged by such assurances, in the 
month of February following, the committee of the 
Rhode Island Association drew up the following 

DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLE. 

Believinsf that all men Avere created free and equal, and that 
the possession of property should create no political advantages 
for its holder, and believing- that ali bodies politic should have 
for their foundation a Bill of Rights, and a written Constitution, 
wherein the rights of the people should be defined, and the du- 
ties of the people's servants strictly pointed out, and limited ; and 
believing that the State of Rhode Island is possessed of neither 
of those instruments, and that the Charter under which she has 
her political existence is not only aristocratic in its tendency, but 
that it lost all its authority when the Independence of the United 
States was declared ; and, furthermore, believing that every State 
in the Federal compact is entitled by the terms of that compact 
to a R(;publican form of Government, and that any form of gov- 
ernment is anti-republican, and aristocratic, which precludes a 
majority of the people from participating in its affairs; and that 
by every right, human and divine, the majority of the state should 
govern ; and, furthermore, and finally, believing that the time 
hss gone by when we are called upon to submit to tJie most un- 
just outrages upon our political and social rights, therefore, 

Resolved, That the power of the State should be vested in the 
hands of the People, and that the People have a right, from time 
to time, to assemble, either by themselves, or their Representa- 
tives, for the establishment of a republican form of government. 

Rcso'ved, That whenever a majority of the citizens of this 
Stati>, ^\ ho are recognised as citizens of the United States, shall, 
by their delegates in convention assembled, draft a constitution, 
and the same shall be accepted by their constituents, it will then 
be, to all intents and purposes, the Law of the State." 

These Resolutions were passed unanimously, by 
the different Associations of the State. For the fur- 



OU MIGHT AND KIGHT. 

therance of the cause, and in order to a more concen- 
trated and efficient action, a Mass Meeting was called, 
to be holden on the 17th of April. In obedience to 
the call, the men of Rhode Island, for the first time 
since the Revolution, assembled themselves together 
for their riglits. The day was ushered in by the 
ringing of all the bells in the city, with one solita- 
ty exception — that of the Fn'st* Congregational 
Church being mute ; and for the first time in our 
city the bells woke to the call of Equal Rights, and 
summoned the people of the several wards to form 
themselves into companies under the command of 
Ward Marshals. The day was inclement, but the 
occasion triumphed. There were between three and 
four thousand persons in the procession, and upwards 
of four thousand on the ground, notwithstanding the 
Journal made report only of "about two thousand 
four hundred, of whom two hundred and thirty-two 
were mounted, and thirty-five in carriages, and they 
were about twenty minutes in passing." Never, 
perhaps, was there a result obtained from any public 
meetmg, so entirely beyond expectation, as was af- 
forded by this Parade. The committee were obliged 
to extend their arrangements, from accommodations 
for four or five hundred, to accom.modations for al- 
most as many thousands. Up to the morning of the 
very day, many, even of those friendly, continued to 
be incredulous ; and many a lip was dressed with a 
sneer, and many a brow wore a contemptuous frown, 
as the citizens met the small advocates of pap and 
leading-strings, when passing quietly along, to the 
ground where the procession was to form. The per- 

* The Sexton had made an agreement with ilie committee, that 
this bell should send forth its joyous notes, but was forbidden by 
the committee who have charg-e of the house. The bell of the 
High Street Church was twice stopped by some aristocrat clothed 
in " a little brief authority," but would not slay so; for iirmedi- 
ately on his leaving the house, it again sent forth its joyous peals. 
Kew Jige. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 



81 



sons in the procession were, in accordance with a 
previous Resokition, dressed in citizen's dress, with- 
out arnas. There was a dignity, a conscious manli- 
ness, pervading the whole body, such as has been 
; seldom witnessed. It is said, " The consciousness 
of RIGHT makes gods of common men ;" and when 
I we add to this the consciousness of injury, we have 
! the secret of that noble and intrepid bearing. Many 
of the banners were fine, bearing pithy and appro- 
priate mottoes. 

The Revolutionary Soldiers occupied five car- 
riages, and were twenty-two in number. They 
bore on their banner the following appropriate in- 
scription : 

" We have fought for freedom." 

On the reverse, 

" Shall we die without our freedom ?" 

The procession marched to the animating tones of 
1 a piece of new music, the*Free Suffrage (Quickstep, 
j which was composed for the occasion by one of 
their members, Mr. Cartee ; and its length was so 
great, that when the Butchers, who made the front, 
had arrived at the enclosure on Jefferson's Plain, the 
Draymen who formed the rear were just crossing 
Weybosset Bridge — at a distance of three quarters 
' of a mile. After the procession had entered the en- 
closure, the one hundredth Psalm was sung, and an 
appropriate prayer wag offered by the Rev. Wm. S. 
Balch. The Address was omitted on account of the 
rain ; and the prepared collation being hastily par- 
taken of, the procession again form and paraded 
. back to the City Hotel, where they were dismissed 
bv the Chief Marshal, in perfect order, at 3 o'clock, 
P. M. 

An adjourned meeting took place in the Town 
House in the evening ; when the toasts which could 
not be attended to on the Plain, owing to the in- 



82 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

clemency of tlie weather, were read. They were 
generally spirited and appropriate. 

The advantages obtanied at the late meetmg were 
immediately followed up by issuing a call for a Mass 
Convention', to be holden at ISewport, on the lifth 
day of the May following. This Convention was 
called for the purpose of taking preliminary steps, for 
the framing and adoption of a Constitution, which 
should contain a Bill of Rights, equalize taxation, or 
weigh it in the balance against Representation ; 
limit the power of the Assembly ; secure the Free- 
dom of the Press, and the rights of the People from 
leirislative influence ; and establish a uniform system 
of Kducation. 

Pursuant to the call, the Convention met at New- 
port, on the appointed day, at 11 o- clock, A. M. ; the 
assembly being holden in an enclosure at the head 
of Town street, called '^ the Church lot." As the 
very important Resolutions which were adopted at 
this Convention, exhibit the true features and char- 
acter of the Sulfrage movement, I give them entire, 
and in their regular order. 

PREAMBLE. 

" Whereas, It is the undeniable rio-htof the people at all times, 
penceably to assemble for consultation and conference touchinir 
the Government under which they, live, and which they assist in 
Bupportinor; and independently utter and set forth, on such occa- 
sions of meeting tog-ether, their views, sentiments and plans rela- 
tive to the correction, as well of defects in the organization of 
government, as of taults in the administration of the same : 

" VVr, a portion of the people of the State, now assembled at: 
Newport, in a Mass Co.NVLriTioN, formed from all parts of the 
►State, and acting in behalf of the great body of our unenfran- 
chised citizens, do declare their and our opiniona and purposes 
ill tlie following 

RESOLUTIONS. 
1. Resolved, That it is repugnant to the spirit of the Declara- 
tion of American Independence, and deroijatory to the character 
of Rhode Island republicans, to acknowledge the Charter of ai 
British King, as a constitution, or any part of a constitution of 
poiitical government, wjjile we venerate the illustrious names of: 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 83 

RoGFR Williams, and John Clarke, to whose uiitiring- ability 
and perseverance the colony of Rhode Island was indebted for 
this grant from the tlirone of Enfrland, so well adapted at the 
I tune to the wants of his Majesty's subjects, and so liberal in its 
I concessions, we are at the same time aware that in almost all 
; respects, excepting the immortal declaration and (rnaranty of re- 
; lio-ious freedom, it has become insufficient and absolete ; tliat it 
i has discharged the functions for Avhich it was intended, and that 
j it should be laid aside in the archives of the State; and no lon- 
I ger be permitted to subsist as a barrier against the Rights and 
I Liberties of the people. 

[ 2. Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Convention, on the 
i occurrence of the American Revolution, when the ties of alle- 
; giance, which bound the subjects of this colony to the throne of 
! England, were dissolved, the right of sovereignty in accordance 
'; with the principles of Republican Government, passed to the 
' whole body of the people of tliis State, and not to any special or 
; favored portion of the same; that the whole people were, and 
I are, the just and rightful successors of the British King, and as 
I such were, and are, entitled to alter, amend, or annul the form 
i and provisions of Government, then and now subsisting, with the 
i sole restriction imposed by the Constitution of the United States, 
I and in their Original and Sovereign capacity to devise and estab- 
I !?• xi such a Constitution, as they may deem to be best adapted to 
i'tne general welfare. 

i 3. Besolved, That no lapse of time can bar the rights of sove- 
'reignty inherent in the people of this State ; and that their omis- 
ision to form a ('onstitution, and their toleration of the abuses 
under which they have so long labored, are to be regarded as 
proof of their long-suffering and forbearance, rather than as ar- 
guments against their power and their capacity to right them- 
selves, whenever, in their opinion, redress from the government 
at present subsisting, is hopeless. 

4. Resolved, That the time has now fully arrived for a vigor- 
ous and concentrated effort to accomplish a thorough and perma- 
nent reform in the political institutions of this State. 

5. Resolved, That a system of government, under which the 
degislative body exercises power undefined and uncontrolled by 
fundamental laws, according to its own " especial grace, certain 
.knowledge and mere motion," and limits and restricts the right 
of Suffrage, and makes, and unmakes, the people at its pleasure, is 
anti-republican and odious in its character and operations, at wai' 
with the spirit of the age, repugnant to the feelino- of every right- 
minded Rhode Island man, and ought to be abolished. 

I (). Resolved, That the public good imperatively requires that 
ithe powers of the Leo-islature andtiip rights of the citizens should 
be defined and fixed by a WRITTEN STATE CONSTITU- 
TION. 



84 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

7. Resolved, That the Representation of the towns in the 
General Asseinblv, as originally established by the provisions of 
tlie Charter of Ki'nij Ciiarles Second, had reference to the then 
exislinff population'^of the same, and was, at that time, not un- 
fairly adjusted to it; but that, by the great increase of population 
in tlie towns, the existing apporiionmenthas become exceedingly 
uncHiual and unjust in its operation ; and that a new assignment 
of Representatives among the towns, according to population, 
•will be an indispensable article in a Constitution for this State. 
A majority of the Representatives to the General Assembly are 
now elected by towns containing less than one-third of the popu- 
lation of the State ; and some of the towns vary in their dispro- 
portion of representation over other towns, from twice to twenty 
times what thoy are entitled to, under the just principle of distri- 
bution above named — an inequality not uncommon in the mon- 
archies of Europe, but, with the single exception of Rhode 
Island, unknown in the United States. 

H. Resolved, That at the foundation of this State, and long" 
after, property in land was not only the principal property of 
the citizens, but was so easily attainable that a landed qualiiica- 
tion for voters (first definitely established in the colony, by the 
Legislature, in 1724) excluded only a small portion of the people 
from political power; but that the circumstances of the people 
have since greatly changed, and that the existing qualification 
for votinQT, has the effect, contrary to the design of those who 
first established it, of excluding the great majority of 1G,000 out of 
25 000 over the age of twenty-one years, from all political privi- 
leges and participation in the affairs of government ; and that 
although we entertain a high and becoming respect for Farmers, 
and their just influence in this State, we are not insensible to the 
merits of their own younger sons, of the Mechanics, the Mer- 
chants, the Working Men and others, who own no land; and 
that ue are of opinion, that the longer continuance of a landed 
qualification for voters is a great injustice, and is contrary to the 
spirit and principles of a Republican Government; and that a 
Constitution for this State will be altogether insufficient, unsatis- 
factory and unpracticable, that does not restore to the body of 
the i)(H)ple of this State the rights and privileges of American 
Citizens. 

1). Resolved, That a continuance of the provisions of the pre- 
sent Charter relating to representation, and of the act of the Le- 
gislature requiring a freehold estate to entitle a citizen to vote 
for public officers, has the effect not only of vesting the control of 
the General Assembly ; as we have before seen, in less than one- 
turd of the population, but, as the voters in this third are only a 
t ind part of the whole number of the adult citizens, it has this fur- 
ther effect also, tlie most oppressive and odious of all, of placing 
Uie control of the Assembly and of the State in one-ninth part of 



d 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 85 

its adult population, or in other words ; in the hands of less than 
3,000 men of 25,000 who are over twenty-one years of age. 

10. Resolved, That such a state of thing-s is a bold and hardy 
defiance of all popular rights, and is a total departure from the 
principle av^owed at the first session of the General Assembly in 
the year 1647, who then solemnly declared and voted that the 
Government of this State should be a DEMOCRACY. 

11. Resolved, That the American system of government, is a 
government of Men, and not of Property, and that Avhile it pro- 
vides for the ample protection and safe enjoyment and transmis- 
sion of property, it confers upon it no political advantages, bul 
regards all men as free and equal, and expects from them no price 
for the exercise of their birth-right ; and that therefore, the un- 
doubted rights and privileges of the people, as well as the true 
honor and prosperity of the State, can only be completely obtain- 
ed and permanently insured, by a written Constitution, whose 
framers shall be chosen from the plople of the towns, in pro- 
portion to population ; and which shall be approved and ratified 
by the people at large ; and that in the exercise of this high act 
of sovereignty, euen/ American citizen ivhose actual permanent resi- 
dence or home is in this State, has a right to participate. And Ave 
accordingly pledge ourselves individually to eacli other, and col- 
lectively to the public, that we will use our unremitting efforts 
for such a Constitution, in tiie way that has been described 

12. Resolved, That we disclaim all action with, or for, any 
political party, in this great question of state rights, reserving 
to ourselves individually, our own opinions on all matters of 
State and National politics, which we call upon no man to sacri- 
fice ; and that we heartily invite the earnest cooperation of men 
of all political parties in the cause which we have at heart, and 
which we believe to be the cause of Liberty, Equality, and Jus- 
tice, to all Men. 

13. Resolved, That the General Assembly should have called 
the convention to frame a Constitution in November next, in such 
a manner as to apportion the delegates to the convention among 
the several towns according to population, and to give to every 
American citizen, as aforesaid, the right of voting for delegates, 
and for the Constitution which may be proposed for the ratifica- 
tion of the people. 

14. Resolved, That the friends of reform in each town be re- 
quested forthwith to establish an Association,, for the purpose of 
a better organization, for correspondence, and generally for the 
promotion of the objects of this convention. 

15. Resolved, Tliat a State Committee of five persons, be ap- 
pointed by this convention, to correspond with the associations of 
the several towns, and to carry forward the cause of reform and 
Equal Rights, and to call a convention of delegates to draft a 
Constitution at as early a day as possible, 

8 



g6 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

IG Resolved, That tlie State Committee be requested to ob- 
tain, without delay, a list of all the citizens in the several towns, 
who are ready to vote for and sustain a constitution, based on the 
principles hereinbefore declared, and to present the same at the 
adiourncd nicctinjr of this convention. 

J 7. Resolved, 'I'hut the State Committee be requested to pre- 
pare and send forth an address to the people of this State, on the 
subjects contained in the foregoing Resolutions, and to report 
proceedings at an adjourned meeting. 

18. Reso'ved, That a copy of these Resolutions be transmit- 
ted to the Governor, to the Lieutenant Governor, and to each 
member of the Senate, and House of Representatives, whose at- 
tention is especially and respectfully asked to the Resolution 
relative to the call of the convention for framing a constitution. 

J9. Resolved, That the support and patronage of all the 
friends of reforn), is urgently requested in behalf of the " JVew 
Jlge,^^ a newspaper exclusively devoted to the cause, which we 
have this day assembled to promote. 

20. Resolved, That these Resolutions be signed by the Pre- 
sident of the convention, and Secretaries, and published in the 
several newspapers throughout the State, and that the publish- 
ers be requested to give them a gratuitous insertion in their 
respective papers. 

21. Resolved, That this convention, when it adjourns, will 
adjourn to meet in Providence on the fifth day of July next' 

111 concurrence with the fifteenth Resohition, a 
State Committee was appointed, and the Convention 
adjourned to meet at Providence, July 5th — the 4th 
being on the Sabbath, that day was chosen for the 
celebration of Independence. In the mean time the 
General Assembly, whose action only kept pace with 
the apparent necessity, started somewhat abruptly, as 
if too soon aroused from a remarkably pleasant 
dream ; and they began to think and rub their eyes, 
as men will do, when an unpleasant truth presents 
itself, and they would fain persuade themselves they 
are dreaming still. But look whichever way they 
might, a stubborn fact presented itself. Men were 
gathering by hundreds, and by thousands ; and they 
really began to perceive something serious in the 
circumstance, thereby proving the exceeding keen- 
ness of their penetration) for Reverend Doctors saw 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 87 

nothing ominous even for some months after. They 
enacted a law at their May session, for the more 
equal apportionment among the several towns of the 
delegates to the Landholders' Convention in Novem- 
ber. And at their adjourned session in June, a bill 
came before the house, presented by Mr. At well, one 
of the liberal members, providing, that ''every free 
white male citizen, over twenty-one years of age, 
who had resided in the State two years, and in the 
town where he is to vote the six months next pre- 
ceding the town-meeting ; and who has paid a tax 
on real estate, or personal property, for -one year 
previous to voting, shall be allowed to vote for the 
choit^e of delegates to the Convention, appointed by 
tho Assembly to meet in November, for the purpose 
of forming a Constitution ; except persons insane, 
under guardianship and convicts." This single fact 
sholild be enough to silence the assertion, so often, 
and so boldly made, that the General Assembly 
wer«, and always had been, willing to extend Suf- 
frage. Had they been willing to make even this 
slight concession, of admitting unenfranchised tax- 
payers, who were permanent residents of the State, 
to assist in forming a Constitution for the State, all 
the subsequent difficulty would have been spared. 
The people would have been content. And yet, 
after this most obvious violation of justice, on their 
part, we have been told, again and again, that the 
people were bent on war and pillage — that they would 
not accept the kind overtures of the Assembly, which 
were always held out to them. Never was there a 
grosser falsehood ! The people's error was on the 
opposite side. They Avere too willing to make con- 
cessions — they were too ready to yield, for the sake 
of peace. They clung, to the very last, to the hope 
of a legal adjustment of the difficulties ; and most 
of them have never yet renounced it. On the Gen- 
eral Assembly, then, and on them alone, rests alltlie 



88 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

sin growing out of tlie events which they then deter- 
mined ! This very important bill of Mr. At well, 
notwithstanding his noble defence of its provisions, 
was not only lost, but it was voted down by a vast 
majority. 

Ac^reeable to adjournmenl the Suffrage Convention 
assembled at Providence, July 5th. This day afford- 
ed a glorious triumph to the friends of Equal Rights. 
The Free Suffrage party wore appropriate badges — 
and it was said by the oldest persons, that the City 
never had been before so full of people. The pro- 
cession was formed in Benelit street, and marched to 
the Dexter training ground ; where, after the meet- 
ing had been called to order by the President, Gen. 
Martin Stoddard, a prayer was offered by the Rev. 
Mr. Peterson ; and an Oration on the subject of 
Man's inherent Rights, followed, by the Rev. Wm. 
S. Balch. That oration was worthy the fine mind, 
and true heart, of its author ; and could the princi- 
ciples which it embodies be carried out in action, 
there would be no wrong or violence any more ; 
but Wisdom, and Truth, and Love, would reign 
upon the earth. 

After the oration, the Suffrage Glee Club sang a 
spirited song, and then the State Committee present- 
ed their Report and Resolutions, which were adopt- 
ed unanimously. The meeting was addressed by 
several gentlemen, and the Convention adjourned to 
the call of the State Committee. The revolution- 
ary soldiers, thirty in number, then proceeded to 
the City Hotel, with all those who chose to mingle 
in tlie festivities of that occasion. The State Com- 
mittee sent forth an Address to the People of the 
State, a copy of which was transmitted to each mem- 
ber of the General Assembly, and to each of the Edi- 
tors of Newsi)apers in the State, requesting them to 
uisert the same gratuitously, in their several Journals. 
The State Committee also, after making their Re^ 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 89 

-port, in which the belief of the good Cause being in 
a state of progress was expressed, presented to the 
■Convention several very important resolutions. 

Will not future generations believe that the Rhode 
(Islanders must have been an incomparably wise and 
great people, when they reflect that "the mob," 
*'the rabble," the very " froth and foam of society," 
were capable of acts and resolutions, such as were 
, presented at that Convention ? And should the ac- 
tions and sentiments of the wisest^ and the greatest, 
be then called for, how would be the climax, crown- 
ed, or inverted ? It is a blessed thought that man, 
though he compel into his service the force of Le- 
gion, cannot annihilate a single ray of truth. What- 
ever is true and good, will live, for only such has 
life. Whatever is right, will finally prevail, ancj 
nothing else. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE people's constitution. 

It has often been said by our opposers, that they 
had no objection to a change of government^ provided 
it be done legally — that is, by themselves — con- 
trary to their own selfish interests, and long-settled 
determination. Let me ask by what law these 
United States, then British Colonies, threw off the 
yoke, and abrogated the law of their rightful sove- 
reign? By what, but the indestructible law of Na- 
ture, written intelligibly within their own souls ? a 
law which is legible m the erect bearing and upward 
visage of man — by which he proves himself invest- 
ed with a right, which no despotism can destroy — 
8* 



90 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the rio-ht to participate in the government of the com- 
munit^y of whicli he is a member? By what autho- 
rity were the Articles of Confederation, and the De- 
claration of Independence framed ? By what but the 
God-given authority of Reason in every man, which 
tells him that he has an inherent right to regulate all 
matters which affect his life, liberty, or happiness ? 
By what right was the War of the Revolution pro- 
secuted, but by the right of Manhood to be free ? a 
war in which Rhode Island first poured out an offer- 
ing of blood upon the altar of our young Liberty ! 
And are we, alone, of all the people of this Union, 
to be defrauded of that right, which our Fathers 
bled to establish ? Are we to be bond-slaves in this, 
the beautiful land of our nativity ? It shall not be. 
Our course is onward. No one can arrest our pro- 
gress, but by a direct violation of every principle 
which an American holds dear — of every principle 
which the Apostles of Freedom in all ages, and in 
every clime, have held sacred ! 

Such was the tone of question and of ansAver, 
which flashed like rays of light from a newly-dis- 
covered star, from heart to heart, and from soul to 
soul, as the men of Rhode Island, in their original 
and sovereign capaxiity, went forth to their great 
work — the framing of a State Constitution, which 
should be just and equal in all its provisions. 

The State Committee issued this Call on the 
24th of July. As the whole subsequent movement 
was based on the action of this Committee, I will 
insert the document entire. 

STATE CONSTITUTION. 

A CALL 

TO THE PEOPLE OF RHODE ISLAiN'D TO 

JISSE^MBLE LV COjYFEMTIOM 

Al a Mass Cohvention of the friends of Equal Rights and of a 
WRJTTEN Republica.n CONSTITUTION for this State, held at 
]Newport,on the 5th day of May, 1841, the following persons 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 91 

"were appointed a State Committee for the furtherance of the 
cause, which the Convention had assembled to promote, — viz : — 
for 

Newport County, C CHARLES COLLINS, 
I DUTEE J. PEARCE, 
( SILAS SISSON. 
Providence, f SAMUEL H. WALES, 

BENJ. ARNOLD, Jr., 
WELCOME B. SAYLES, 
HENRY L. WEBSTER, 
PHILIP B. STINESS, 
METCALF MARSH. 
Btistgl, (BENJ. M. BOSWORTH, 

■{ SAMUEL S. ALLEN, 
( AB JAH LUCE. 
Kent, (EMANUEL RICE, 

^ SILAS WEAVER, 
^JOHN B. SHELDON. 
Washington, (SYLVESTER HIMES, 

I WAGER WEEDEN, 
( CHARLES ALLEN. 

The State Committee were directed "to carry forward the 
cause of Reform and Equal Rights, ana to call a Convention of 
Delegates to draft a Constitution at as early a day as possible." 

At an adjourned meeting of said Mass Convention held at 
Providence, on the 5th day of July, the instructions before given 
were reaffirmed ; and the committee were directed to call a Con- 
vention of the People, on the basis of the Resolutions passed at 
Newport, " at an early day, for tke formation of a Constitution." 

Pursuing these instructions, the Committee held a meeting at 
Providence, on the 20th of July, and in conformity with the 
Eleventh Resolution adopted at Newport, which prescribes the 
call of a Convention of the People at large, to be represented 
in PROPORTION to population, passed unanimously the follow- 
ing Resolutions, for the CALL of a POPULAR CONVEN- 
TION. 

Voted, That we proceed to issue a Call for the election of 
DELEGATES, to take place on the last Saturday in x\ugust, 
(the 28th day,) to attend a CONVEN'JION to be holden at the 
State House in Providence, on the First Monday in Oc- 
tober, (the 4th day,) for framing a CONSTITUTION to be 
laid before the People for their adoption. 

Voted, That every American male citizen, twenty-one years of 
age and upwards, who has resided in this State one year, preced- 
ing the election of delegates, shall vots for Delegates to the Con- 
vention, called by the State Committee to be held at the State 
House in Providence on the first Monday in October next. 

Votedy That every meeting holden for the election of Dele- 



02 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

pates to the State Convention shall be oriranized by the election 
«ra Chairman and Secretary, whose certificate shall be the au- 
tliority required ot^tiie Delegates. 

J'oiecl, That each Town of one thousand inhabitants, or less, 
8h;ill be entitled to one delegate, and for every additional thou- 
sand, one delegate shall be appointed ; and the city of Providence 
shall elect three delegates from each Ward in the city. 

Voted, That the Chairnian and Secretary be directed to cause 
one thousand hand-bills to be printed and distributed through the 
State, containing the call for a Convention of Delegates. 

Ko/e</, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the 
Ch lirman and Secretary, and be published. 

On niotion. Voted, That this meeting stand adjourned to meet 
at this place on the first day of September, at 11 o'clock, A. M. 

Fej.low Citizens — We have discharged our duty in the 
call of a Convention of the avhole people, to provide for the 
attainment and security of those invaluable rights, which have 
so long been withheld from them, and without which they are but 
subjects and slaves in a State only nominally Republican. 

Depend upon it that a spirit has been awakened in this State, 
which cannot be intimidated or repressed — which has suffered 
long, until patience has ceased to be a virtue, and which, regard- 
ing the Republican institutions every where else enjoyed but 
here, and prompted by the memory of our venerable and patriotiq 
ancestors, the first to assert the true principles of Religious and 
Political freedom, will brook no further delay, and which cannot 
be more appropriately expressed than when we say, in behalf of 
the great majority of the Plople, 
GIVE US OUR RIGHTS, or WE WILL TAKE THEM, 

We ask for nothing that is not clearly right, and we are deter- 
mined to submit to nothing so manifestly wrong as the corrupt 
and anti-re;.ublican system of government which has so long sub- 
sisted in Rhode Island by the forbearance of the People, 

Bear in mind, that there is no constitutional mode of 
amending our government, except by the People at large, in 
whom, as the successors to the King of England, the sovereign 
po'ver resides, and remains unimpaired by any lapse of time, or 
toleration of past abuses. 

That there is no Bill of Rights in this State, except that 
irrantt'l by the Legislature, and which they can at any moment 
resuuie and annul. 

That the (Jeneral Assembly is a body irresponsible to the ma- 
jority of the People, restricted by no co'nstitutional rule of action, 
virtually omnipotent — making and unmaking the People, doing 
and undoing what it pleases, according to its " especial grace, 
certain knuwlodgc and mere motion," in imitation, upon a smaller 
scale, ol tiie Monarchy of Great Britain. 

That the system of representation to this Assembly is also the 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 93 

Rotten-Borough system of Great Britain now partially reform- 
ed ; by which system, in this State, a third of the freemen, and 
one.-nmth of the People command the House of Representatives. 

That, by reason of a landed qualification, which it is impossible 
for the great majority to obtain, two-tkirds of the people are 
ousted of the birthright acquired for them by their fathers, and 
are governed, taxed, compelled to do military duty, and subject- 
ed in all respects to the will and pleasure of one-third, Avith the 
sole restriction, imposed by the Constitution of the United States. 

Instead of enumerating other particulars, we only say — 
0;^ look at the history of Rhode Island legislation. 
, Fellow Citizens — It is these evils to which the great unen- 
franchised majority, acting in their original, sovereign capacity, 
propose and intend to apply an effectual remedy. We ask your 
aid and assistance in this good work. We respectfully urge 
upon you to assist in the election of delegates to the Popular 
Convention to be held in October next, not as the friends or op- 
ponents of any political party now existing in this State, but as 
the friends of Justice, of Humanity, of Liberty, of Equal Rights, 
of well regulated Constitutional Government. 

Do not be deceived by the Freeholders' Convention called for 
November next. It is a gross fraud upon the people. The de- 
sign of its originators was to crystalize in a stronger form the 
present statute provisions relating to suffrage, and to place them 
beyond the reach of amendment except by the hand offeree. 

Once more, we say to the unenfranchised mass of our brethren 
and fellow-citizens — your rights are in your own hands. As- 
sert and vindicate them like men determined to be free. So© to 
it that a meeting for the choice of delegates is duly held in every 
town, and that its proportional number is regularly elected. Sum- 
mon your friends and neighbors to the work — and rely upon it 
that a Constitution framed by such a Convention, and signed 
by a MAJORITY of the people, will be promptly acquiesced in by 
the MINORITY — will be vigorously sustained, and will become 
without delay, the undisputed, paramount law of our State. 

Providence, July 2m, 1841. 

By order and in behalf of the State Committee. 

SAMUEL H. WALES, Chairman, 

Benjamin Arnold, Jr., Secretary. 

In obedience to the above call, meetings were 
held in nearly all the towns in the )State ; and on 
the 28th of August the election of Delegates took 
place, they being divided into eleven committees, to 
which different departments of the great work wer9 
assigned. They were as follows : 



94 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

No. 1. On Declaration of Principles and Rights. 
Ariel Ballon, Chairman. 

No. 2. On Electors, the Right of Suffrage^ and 
Elections. Tiiomas W. Dorr, Chairman. 

No. 3. On the Legislative Department. John A. 
Brown, Chairman. 

No. 4. On the House of Represe?itatives. John 
R; Waterman, Chairman. 

No. 5. On the Senate. Pardon Spencer, Chairman. 

No. 6. On tlie Executive Department. David 
Daniels, Chairman. 

No. 7. On the Judiciary. Samuel Y. Atwell, 
Chairman. 

No. 8. On Elections. Oliver Chace, jr.. Chairman. 

No. 9. On Amcndnients of the Constitution. Wel- 
come B. Sayles, Chairman. 

No. 10. On General Provisions. Dutee J. Pearce, 
Chairman. 

No. 11. On the Meetings of the Legislature. 
Joshua B. Rathbnn, Chairman. 

A large majority of the appointed Delegates assem- 
bled in Convention, at Providence, on the 4th day of 
(October ; and after having drafted the plan of a Con- 
stitution, they adjourned until the ensuing month, 
in order that the subject of their labors might be 
submitted to the test of public opinion, and freely 
canvassed by the people. The Convention reassem- 
bled in November, and after making several amend- 
ments, finally passed upon the Constitution, and on 
the 18th adjourned. The People's Constitution 
was submitted, for rejection or adoption, to the adult 
niale population, who were citizens of the United 
States, and were permanent residents of the State, 
on Monday, the 27th of December, and the two 
succeeding days;* and on the 13th of January, 
1842, the same was declared to be adopted, by a 
very large majority. 

* Sec People's Constitution, Article XIV. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 95 

Reserving all remarks for a future chapter, I pro- 
ceed to lay before you the Instrument in question, 
that it may speak for itself. 

CONSTITUTION 

Of thi" State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, asfnally 
adopted hi) the Convention of the People assembled at Providence^ 
■ on the mh day of JVovemher, 1841. 

WE, The PEOPLE of the State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, ^''''atefiil to Almiofhty God for his blessing 
vouchsafed to the "lively experiment" of Religions and Political 
Freedom here " held forth " by our venerable ancestors, and ear- 
nestly imploring- the favor of his gracious Providence toward this 
our attempt to seci:re, upon a permanent foundation, the advan- 
tages of well ordered and rational Liberty, and to enlarge and 
transmit to our successors the inheritance that we have received, 
do ordain and establish the following CONSTITUTION of 
Government of this State. 

ARTICLE L 

DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND RIGHTS. 

h In the spirit and in the words of Roger Williams, the 
illustrious Founder of this State, and of his venerated associates. 
We declare, "that this government shall be a Demqcraot," 
or government of the People, " by the major consent" of the 
same, "only in civil things." The will of the people shall 
be expressed by Representatives freely chosen, and returning at 
fixed periods to their constituents. This State shall be, and for- 
ever remain, as in the design of its Founder, sacred to "SauL, 
Liberty," to the rights of conscience, to freedom of thought, of 
expression and of action, as hereinafter set forth and secured. 

2. All men are created free and equal, and are endowed by 
their Creator with certain natural, inherent and inalienable 
Rights; among ^vhich are life, liberty, the acquisition of pro- 
perty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government cannot create or 
bestow these rights, which are the gift of god; but it is insti- 
tuted for the stronger and surer defence of the same ; that men 
may safely enjoy the rights of life and liberty, securely possess 
and transmit property, and, so far as laws avail, may be success 
ful in the pursuit o*" happiness. 

3. A political power and sovereignty are originally vested in, 
and of right belong to the People. All free governments are 
founded in their authority, and are established tor the greatest 
good of the whole number. The People have therefore an in- 
alienable and indefeasible right, in their original, sovereign and 
unlimited capacity, to ordain and institute government, and, in 



f)6 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the same capacity, to alter, reform or totally change the same, 
Avheiiever their safety or happiness requires, 

4. No fuvor or disfavor ougiit to be shown in legislation toward 
any'niaii, or party, or society, or religious denomination. The 
laws should be made not for the good of the few, but of the many ; 
and the burdens of the State ought to be fully distributed among 
its citizens. 

5. The diffusion of useful knowledge, and the cultivation of a 
sound morality, in the fear of God, being of the first importance 
in a Republican State, and indispensible to the maintenance of 
Its liberties, it shall be an imperative duty of the Legislature to 
promote the establishment of Free Schools, and to assist in tlie 
support of Public Education. 

6. Every person in this State ought to find a certain remedy, 
by iiaving recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which 
niay be done to liis rights of person, property or character. He 
ought to obtain right and justice freely and without purchase, 
completely and without denial, promptly and without delay, con- 
foruiably to the laws. 

7. Tiie right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seiz- 
ures, shall not be violated : and no warrant shall issue but on 
complaint in writing upon probable cause, supported by oath or 
affirmation, and describing, as nearly as may be, the place to be 
searched, and the person or things to be seized. 

8. No person shall be held to answer to a capital or other infa- 
mous charge unless on indictment by a Grand Jury, except in 
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when 
in actual service, in time of war or public danger. No person 
shall be tried after an acquittal, for the same crime or offence. 

9. Every man being presumed to be innocent, until pronounced 
guilty by the law, all acts of severity, that are not necessary to 
secure an accused person, ought to be repressed. 

10. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted ; and all 
punishments ought to be proportioned to the offence. 

11. All prisoners shall be bailable upon sufficient surety, unless 
for capital offences, when the proof is evident, or the presumption 
groat. The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion, or invasion, the 
public safety shall require it. 

lo. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the 
privilege of a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury ; be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; be confront- 
ed with the witnesses against him ; have compulsory process to 
obtain them in his favor, and at tiie public expense, when neces- 
sary ; have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and be at 
liberty to speak for himself. Nor shall he be deprived of his life, 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 97 

liberty or property unless by the judgment of his peers, or the law 
of the land. 

13. The right of trial by jury, shall remain inviolate ; and in 
all criminal cases the jury shall judge both of the law and of the 
facts. 

14. Any person in this State, wlio may be claimed, to be held 
to labor or service, under the laws of any other State, territory, 
or district, shall be entitled to a jury trial, to ascertain the valid- 
ity of such claim. 

15. No man in a Court of common law shall be required to 
criminate himself. 

16. Retrospective laws, civil and criminal, are unjust and op- 
i pressive, and shall not be made. 

17. The People have a right to assemble in a peaceable man- 
ner, without molestation or restraint, to consult upon the public 
welfare ; a right to give instructions to their Senators and Repre- 
sentatives ; and a right to apply to those invested with the pow- 
ers of Government for redress of grievances, for the repeal of 
injurious laws, for the correction of fLiults of administration, and 
for all other purposes. 

18. The liberty of the Press being essential to the security of 
freedom in a State, any citizen may publish his sentiments on 
any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and 
in all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, spoken 
from good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient 
defence to the person charged. 

19. Private property shall not be taken for public uses without 
just compensation; nor unless the public good require it; nor 
under any circumstances, until compensation shall have been 
made, if required. 

20. The military shall always be held in strict subordination to 
the civil authority. 

21. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war but 
in manner to be prescribed by law. 

22. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free, and 
all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burdens^ 
or by civil incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and 
meanness ; and whereas a principal object of our venerated an- 
cestors in their migration to this country, and their settlement of 
this State, was, as they expressed it, to hold forth a lively experi- 
ment, that a flourishing civil State may stand, and be best main- 
tained, with full liberty in religious concernments. We, there- 
fore DECLARE, that no man shall be compelled to frequent, or 
support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor 
be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or 
goods, nor disqualified from holding any office, nor otherwise 
suffer on account of his religious belief; and that all men shall 

9 



f)g ItflGHT AND RIGHT. 

be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in i 
matters of religion ; and that the same shall in no wise diminish, , 
enlarge or affe"ct their civil capacities ; and that all other relig- ■ 
ions rights and privileges of the people of this State, as now en- • 
joyed, shall remain inviolate and inviolable. 

23. No witness shall be called in question before the Legisla- 
ture, nor in any Court of this State, nor before any magistrate, or 
other person, authorised to administer an oath, or affirmation, for 
his or her religious belief, or opinions, or any part thereof; and 
no objection to a witness, on the ground of his or her religious 
opinions, shall be entertained or received. 

24. The citizens shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all 
the rights of tishery, and privileges of the shore, to which they 
have %een heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of 
this State. 

25. The enumeration of the foregoing rights shall not be con- 
strued to impair or deny others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE ir. 

OF ELECTORS AND THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE. 

1. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of 
twenty-one years, who has resided in this State for one year, and 
in any town, city, or district of the same for six months, next 
preceding the election at which he offers to vote, shall be an 
elector of all officers, who are elected, or may hereafter be made 
eligible by the People. But persons in the military, naval, or 
marine service of the United States shall not be considered as 
having such established residence, by being stationed in any 
garrison, barrack, or military place, in any town or city in this 
State. 

2. Paupers and persons under guardianship, insane, or lunatic 
are excluded from the electoral right; and the same shall be for- 
feited on conviction of bribery, forgery, perjury, theft, or other 
infamous crime ; and shall not be restored unless by an act of 
the General Assembly. 

3. No person, who is excluded from voting, for want of the 
qualitication first named in section first of this article, shall be 
taxed, or be liable to do military duty ; provided that nothing 
in said first article sha'l be so construed as to exempt from taxa- 
tion any property or persons now liable to be taxed. 

4. No elector who is not possessed of, and assessed for ratea- 
ble property in his own right, to the amount of one hundred and 
fifty dollars, or who shall have neglected, or refused to pay any 
tax assessed upon him, in any town, city, or district, for one year 
preceding the town, city, ward, or district meeting at which he 
Bhall oflTer to vote, shall be entitled to vote on any question of 
taxation, or the expenditure of any public moneys in such town, 
city, or district, until the same be paid. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 99 

5. In the city of Providence, and other cities, no person shall 
be eligible to the office of mayor, alderman, or common council 
man, who is not taxed, or who shall have neglected or refused to 
pay his tax, as provided in the preceding section. 

6. The voting for all officers chosen by the People, except 
town or city officers, shall be by ballot; that is to say, by depos- 
iting a written or printed ticket in the ballot box, without the 
name of the voter written thereon. Town or city officers shall 
be chosen by ballot, on the demand of any two persons entitled 
to vote for the same. 

7. There shall be a strict registration of all qualified voters in 
the towns and cities of the State; and no person shall be per- 
mitted to vote, whose name has not been entered upon the list of 
voters before the polls are opened. 

8. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for the 
prevention of fraudulent voting by persons not having an actual, 
permanent residence, or home, in the State, or otherwise dis- 
qualified according to this Constitution ; for the careful registra- 
tion of all voters, previously to the time of voting ; for the pre- 
vention of frauds upon the ballot box ; for the preservation of the 
purity of elections ; and for the safe-keeping and accurate count- 
ing of the votes ; to the end that the will of the People may be 
freely and fully expressed, truly ascertained and effectually ex- 
erted, without intimidation, suppression, or unnecessary delay. 

9. The electors shall be exempted from arrest on days of elec- 
tion, and one day before, and one day after the same, except in 
cases of treason, felony, or breach of the peace. 

10. No person shall be eligible to any office by the votes of the 
People, who does not possess the qualifications of an elector. 

ARTICLE III. 

OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS. 

1. The powers of the Government shall be distributed into 
three departments, the Legislative, the Executive and the Judi- 
cial. 

2. No person or persons connected with one of these depart- 
ments shall exercise any of the powers belonging to either of 
the others, except in cases hereing directed or permitted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

OF THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

1. The Legislative power shall be vested in two distinct 
Houses, the one to be called the House of Representatives, the 
other the Senate, and both together the General Assembly. The 
concurrent votes of the two Houses shall be necessary to the en- 
actment of laws: and the style of their laws shall be — Be it en- 
acted by the General Assembly, as follows. 

2. No member of the General Assembly shall be eligible to any 



100 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

civil office under the authority of the State during the term for 
which he shall have been elected. 

3. If any Representative, or Senator, in the General Assembly 
of tliis State shall be appointed to any office under the Govern- 
ment of the United States, and shall accept the same, after his 
election as such Senator or Representative, his seat shall thereby 
become vacant. 

4. Any person who holds an office under the Government of 
the United States, may be elected a member of the General As- 
sembly, and may hold his seat therein, if at the time of taking his 
iBoat he shall have resigned said office, and shall declare ihe same 
en oath, or affirmation, if required. 

5. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fees, 
be of counsel, or act as advocate in any case pending before 
either branch of the General Assembly, under penality of forfeit- 
ing his scat, upon due proof thereof. 

6. Eacii House shall judge of the election and qualifications of 
its members ; and a majority of all the members of each House, 
whom the towns and senatorial districts are entitled to elect, 
shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but r, smaller number 
may adjourn, from day to day, and may compel the attendance of 
absent members, in such a manner, and under such penalties as 
each House may have previously described. 

7. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings', 
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concur- 
rence of two-thirds of the members elected, expel a member; but 
not a second time for the same cause. 

8. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
publish the same when required by one-fifth of its members^ 
The yeas and nays of the members of either House, shall, at the 
desire of any five members present, be entered on the journal. 

[). Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, ad- 
journ for more than two days, nor to any other place than that at 
which the General Assembly is holding its session. 

10. The Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases of 
civil process, be privileged from Arrest, during the session of the 
General Assembly, and for two days before the commencement, 
and two days after the termination of any session thereof. For 
any speech in debate in either House, no member shall be called 
in question in any other place. 

11. The civil and military officers, heretofore elected in grand 
committee, shall hereafter be elected annually by the Generally 
Assembly, in joint committee, composed of the' two Houses of the 
General Assembly, excepting as is otherwise provided in this 
Constitution; and excepting the captains and subalterns of the 
mihtia, wlio shall be elected by the ballots of the members com- 
posing their respective companies, in such manner as the General 
Assembly may prescribe: and such officers, so elected, shall be 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 101 

approved of ard commissioned by the Governor, who shall deter- 
mine their rank ; and if said companies shall neo^lect or refuse to 
make such elections, after being duly notified, then the Governor 
shall appoint suitable persons to fill such offices. 

12. Every bill and every resolution requiring- the concurrence 
of the two Houses (votes of adjournment excepted) which shall 
have passed both Houses of the General Assembly, shall be pre- 
sented to the Governor for his revision. If he approves of it, he 
shall sign and transmit the same to the Secretary of State ; but if 
not, he shall return it to the House in which it shall have origina- 
ted, with his objections thereto, which shall be entered at large 
on their journal. The House shall then proceed to reconsider 
the bill ; and if, after such reconsideration, that House shall pass 
it, by a majority of all the members elected, it shall be sent, with 
the objections, to the other House, which shall also reconsider it; 
and if approved by that House, by a majority of all the members 
elected, it shall become a law. If the bill shall not be returned 
by tlie Governor within forty-eight hours, (Sundays excepted) after 
it sball have been presented to him, the same shall become a law, 
in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assem- 
bly, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall 
not be a law. 

13. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly in 
every year; one session to be held at Newport, on the first Tues- 
day of June, for the organization of the government, the electif)n 
of officers, and for other business ; and one other session on the 
first Tuesday of January, to be held at Providence, in the first 
year after the adoption of this Constitution, and in every second 
year thereafter. In the interaierJiate years, the January session 
shall be forever hereafter held in the counties of Washington, 
Kent, or Bristol, as the General Assembly may determine, before 
their adjournment in June. 

ARTICLE V. 

OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

1. The House of Representatives shall consist of members 
chosen by the electors in the sever.il towns and cities, in their 
respective town and ward meetings annually. 

2. The Towns and Cities shall severally be entitled to elect 
members, according to the apportionment which follows, viz: — 
Newport to elect five ; Warwick, four ; Smithfield, five ; Cum- 
berland, North Providence and Scituate, three ; Portsmouth, 
Westerly, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, 
East Greenwich, Glocester, West Greenwich, Coventry, Exeter, 
Bristol, Tiverton, Little Compton, Warren, Richmond, Cranston, 
Charlestoivn, Hopkinton, Johnston, Foster and Burrillville, to 
elect two ; and Jamestown, Middletown and Barrington, to elect 
cne. 

9* 



102 MIGHT ANI> BIGHT. 

n. In the city of Providence there shall he six Representativa 
Districts, which shall be the six wards of said city. And the 
electors resident in said districts, for the term of three months, 
nevt preceding the election at which they offer to vote, shall be 
entitled to elect two Representatives for each district. 

4. The Genera! At?semhly, in case of g:reat inequality in the 
population of the wards of the city of Providence, may cause tho 
boundaries of the six Representative districts therein to be so 
altered as to i;)chide in each district, as nearly as may be, an 
equal number of inhabitants. 

5. Tiie House of Representatives shall have authority to elect 
their own Speaker, clerks and other officers. The oath of office 
shall be administered to the Speaker by the Secretary of State, 
or, in his absence, by the Attorney General. 

(). Whenever the seat of a member of the House of Represent- 
atives shall be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, the 
vacancy may be filled by a new election. 

ARTICLE VL 

OF THE SENATE. 

1. The State shall bo divided into twelve Senatorial Districts; 
and each district shall be entitled to one Senator, who shall be 
annually chosen by tiie electojs in his district. 

2. The first, second and third Representative Districts in the 
City of Providence shall constitute the tirst Senatorial District; 
the fourtfi, fifth and sixth Representative Districts in said City 
the second District; the Town of Smithfield the third District; 
the Towns of North Providence and Cumberland the fourth Dis- 
trict; the Towns of Scituate, Glocester, Burrillville and John- 
ston, the fit\h District: the Towns of Warwick and CransLon the 
riixth District; the Towns of East Greenwich, We&t Greenwich, 
Coventry and Foster, tlie seventh District; the towns of New- 
port, Jamesto-.n, and New Shoreham, the eight District; the 
towns of PorismoLith, Middlotown, Tiverton and Little Compton 
the ninth District; the towns of North Kinostown and South 
Kingstown the tenth District; the towns of Westerly, Charles- 
town, Exeter, Richmond and Hopkinton, the eleventh District; 
the towns of Bristol, Warren and Barrington, the twelfth Dis- 
tiict. 

:i. The Lieutenant Governor shall be, by virtue of his office, 
President of the Senate ; and shall have a rioht, in case of an 
equal division, to vote in the same ; and also to\ote in joint com- 
mittee of the two Houses. 

4. When the Government shall be administered by the Lieu- 
tenant Goverror, or he shall be unable to attend as President of 
the S nate, the Senate shall elect one of their own membera 
President of the same. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 103 

5. Vacancies in the Senate occasioned by death, resignation, 
or otherwise, may be filled by a new election. 

6. The Secretary of State tiliall be, by virtue of his office, Se- 
cretary of the Senate. 

ARTICLE VIL 

OF IMPEACHMENTS. 

1. The House of Representatives shall have the aole power of 
impeachment. 

2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and when 
sitting- for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. No 
person shall be convicted except by vote of two-thirds of the 
members elected. When the Governor is impeached, the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside, with a casting rote in 
all preliminary questions. 

3. The Governor, and all other Executive and Judicial officers, 
shall be liable to impeachment ; but judgments in such cases shall 
not extend further than removal from office. The party convict- 
ed shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial and punish- 
ment, according to law. 

ARTICLE VIIL 

OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

1. The Chief Executive power of this State shall be vested in 
a Governor, who shall be chosen by the electors, and shall hold 
his olfice for one year, and until his successor be duly qualified. 

2. No person holding any office or place under the United 
States, this State, any other of the United States, or any foreign 
Power, shall exercise the office of Governor. 

3. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. 

4. He shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval 
forces of the State, except when called into the actual service of 
the United States ; but he shall not march nor convey any of tho 
citizens out of the State without their consent, or that of the 
General Assembly, unless it shall become necessary in order to 
inarch or transport them from one part of the State to aiiother, 
ibr the defence thereof. 

5. He shall appoint all civil and military officers, whose ap- 
pointment is not by this Constitution, or shall not, by lay, bet 
otherwise provided for. 

6. lie shall, from time to time, inform the General Assembly 
of the condition of the State ; and recommend to their considera- 
tion such measures as he may deem expedient. 

7. He may require from any military officer, or any officer ifi 
the executive department, information upon any dubject relatin<j 
to the dutie:!« of his office. 

8. Ha shall have power to remit forfeitures and penalties, and 



104 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

to f^rant reprieves, commutation of punishments, and pardons af- 
ter'^conviction, except in cases of impeachment. 

i). The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his services 
a compensation, which shall not be increased, nor diminished, 
during: his continuance in office. 

lO.^There shall be elected, in the same manner as is provided 
for the election of Governor, a Lieutenant Governor, who shall 
continue in otfice for the same term of time. Whenever the 
office of Governor shall become vacant by death, resignation, 
removal from office or otherwise, the Lieutenant Governor shall 
exercise the office of Governor, until another Governor shall he 
duly qualified. 

J I. Whenever the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor 
shall both become vacant, by death, resignation, removal from 
office, or otherwise, the President of the Senate shall exercise 
the office of Governor, until a Governor be duly qualified ; and 
should such vacancy occur during a recess of the General As- 
sembly, and there be no President of the Senate, the Secretary 
of State shall, by proclamation, convene the Senate, that a Presi- 
dent may be chosen to exercise the office of Governor. 

12. Whenever the Lieutenant Governor, or President of the- 
Senate shall exercise the office of Governor, he shall receive 
the compensation of Governor only ; and his duties as President 
of the Senate shall cease while he shall continue to act as Gov- 
ernor ; and the Senate shall fill the vacancy by an election from 
their own body. 

13. In case of a disagreement between the two Houses of the 
General Assembly respecting the time or place of adjournment^ 
the person exercising the office of Governor may adjourn them 
to such time or place as he shall think proper; provided, that the 
time of adjournn)ent shall not be extended beyond the first day 
of the next stated session. 

14. The person exercising, the office of Governor may, in cases 
of special necessity, convene the Gerieral Assembly at any town, 
or city, in this State, at any other time than herein before pro- 
vided. And, in case of danger, from the prevalence of epidemic 
or contagious diseases, or from other circumstances, in the place, 
in which the General Assembly are next to meet, he may, by 
proclamation, convene the Assembly at any other place within 
the Slate. ^ ^ 

15. A Secretary of State, a General Treasurer, and an Attor- 
ney General shall also be chosen annually, in the same manner 
and for the same time as is herein provided respecting the Gov- 
ernor. The duties of these offices shall be the same as arc now 
or may hereafter be prescribed by law. Should there be a fail- 
ure to choose either of them, or should a vacancy occur in either 
of their offices, the General Assembly shall fill the place by an 
election in joint committee. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 105 

16. The electors in each county shall, at the annual elections, 
vote for an inhabitant of the county to be sheriff of said county, 
for one year, and until a successor be duly qualified. In case no 
person shall have a majority of the electoral votes of his county 
for Sheriff, the General Assembly, in joint committee, shall elect 
a Sheriff from the two candidates, who shall have the greatest 
number of votes in such county. 

17. All commissions shall be in the name of the State of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, sealed with the seal of the 
State, and attested by the Secretary. 

ARTICLE IX. 

GENERAL PR0VISI0N9. 

1. This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the State; 
and all laws contrary to, or inconsistent with the same, which 
may be passed by the General Assembly, sliall be null and void. 

2. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for 
carrying this constitution into effect. 

8. The Judges of all the Courts, and all other officers, both 
civil and military, shall be bound by oath or affi'-mation, to the 
due observance of this Constitution, and of the Constitution of 
the United States. 

4. No jurisdiction shall hereafter be entertained by the Gene- 
ral Assembly in cases of insolvency, divorce, sale of real estate 
of minors, or appeal from judicial decisions, nor in any other mat- 
ters appertaining to the jurisdiction of Judges, and Courts of law. 
But the General Assembly sliall confer upon the Courts of the 
State all necessary powers for affording relief in the cases herein 
named; and the General Assembly shall exercise all other juris- 
diction and authority, whicii they have heretofore entertained, and 
which is now prohibited by, or repugnant to this Constitr.tion. 

5. Tiie General Assembly shall, from time to time, cause esti- 
mates to be made of the ratable property of the Stale, in order 
to the equitible apportionment of State taxes. 

6. Whenever a direct tax is laid by the State, one-sixth part 
thereof shall be assessed on the polls of the qualified electors; 
provided that the tax on a poll shall never exceed the sum of fifty 
cents, and that all persons who actually perform military duty, or 
duty in the fire department, shall be exempted from said poll tax. 

7. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter to 
incur State debts, to an amount exceeding the sum of Fifty 
Thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in case of invasion, 
without the express consent of the People. Every proposition 
for such increase shall be submitted to the eleetors, at the next 
annual election, or on some day to be set apart for that purpose ; 
and shall not be farther entertained by the General Assembly, 
unless it receive the votes of a majority of all the persons voting. 
This section shall not be construed to refer to any money that 



106 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

now is, or hereafter may be, deposited with this State by the Ge- 
neral (loverDnient. 

8. The assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each 
House of \he General Assembly, shall bo requisite to every bill 
appropriating the public moneys, or property, for local or private 
purposes; or for creating, continuing, altering or renewing any 
body politic or corporate, banking corporations excepted. 

H. Hereafter, when any bill creating, continuing altering or 
renewing any banking corporation, authorised to issue its pro- 
missory notes for circulation shall pass the two Houses of the Ge- 
neral Assembly, instead of being sent to the Governor, it shall 
be referred to the electors for their consideration, at the next an- 
nual election, or on some day to be set apart for that purpose, 
with printed tickets, containing the question, shall said bill (with 
a brief description thereof) be approved, or not ; and if a majority 
of the electors voting shall vote to approve said bill, it shall be- 
come a law, otherwise not. 

10. All grants of incorporation shall be subject to future acts 
of the General Assembly, in amendment or repeal thereof, or in 
any wise affecting the same, and this provision shall be inserted 
in all acts of incorporation hereafter granted. 

11. The General Assembly shall exercise, as heretofore, a vi- 
sitorial power over corporations. Three Bank Commissioners 
shall be chosen at the June session for one year, to carry out the 
powers of the General Assembly in this respect. And Commis- 
sioners for the visitation of other corporations, as the General 
Assembly may deem expedient, shall be chosen at the June ses- 
sion for the same term of office. 

1'2. No city council, or other government, in any city, shall 
have power to vote any tax upon the inhabitants thereof, except- 
ing the amount necessary to meet the ordinary public expenses 
in the same, without first submitting the question of an addi- 
tional tax, or taxes, to the electors of said city ; and a majority 
ot all who vote shall determine the question. But no elector 
shall be entitled to vote, m any city, upon any question of taxa- 
tion thus submitted, unless he shall be qualified by the possession 
in his own riglit, of ratable property to the amount of one hun- 
dred and fifty dollars, and shall have been assessed thereon to 
pay a city tax, and shall have paid the same, as provided in sec- 
tion fourth of Article II. Nothing in that article shall be so 
construed as to prevent any elector from votino- for town oflicers, 
and, m the city of Providence, and other cities, for mayor, alder- 
men, and members of the common council. 

I'i. The General Assembly shall not pass any law, nor cause 
any act nor thing to be done, in any way to disturb any of the 
owners or occupants of land in any territory now under the juris- 
diction of any other State, or States, the jurisdiction whereof 
uiny be ceded to, or decreed to belong to this State; and the in. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 107 

habitants of such territory shall continue in the full, quiet and 
undisturbed enjoyment of their title to the same, without interfer- 
ence in any way on the part of this State. 

ARTICLE X. 

OF ELECTIONS. 

1. The election of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secre- 
tary of State, General Treasurer, Attorney General, and also of 
Senators and Representatives to the General Assembly, and of 
Sheriffs, of the counties, shall be held on the third Wednesday 
of April, annually. 

2. The names of the persons voted for as Governor, Lieuten- 
ant Governor, Secretary of State, General Treasurer, Attorney 
General and Sheriffs of the respective counties, shall be put upon 
one ticket ; and the tickets shall be deposited by the electors in 
a box by themselves. The names of the persons voted for as 
Senators, and as Representatives shall be put upon separate tick- 
ets, and the tickets shall be deposited in separate boxes. The 
polls for all the officers named in this section shall be opened at 
the same time. 

3. All the votes given for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Se- 
cretary of State, General Treasurer, Attorney General, Sheriffs, 
and also for Senators shall remain in the ballot boxes till the polls 
be closed. These votes shall then, in open town and ward meet- 
ings, and in the presence of at least ten qualified voters, be taken 
out and sealed up, in separate envelops, by the moderators and 
town clerks, and by the wardens and ward clerks, who shall cer- 
tify the same, and forthwith deliver or send them to the Secre- 
tary of State, whose duty it shall be securely to keep the same, 
and to deliver the votes for State Officers and Slieriffs to the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, after the House shall be 
organised, at the June Session of the General Assembly. The 
votes last named shall, without delay, be opened, counted and de- 
clared, in such manner as the House of Representatives shall di- 
rect; and the oath of office shall be administered to the persons 
■who shall be declared to be elected, by the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, and in the presence of the House ; provided 
that the Sheriffs may take their engagemert before a Senator, 
Judge or Justice of the Peace. The votes for Senator shall be 
counted by the Governor and. Secretary of State, within seven 
days from the day of election ; and the Governor shall give cer- 
tificates to the Senators who are elected. 

4. The boxes containing the votes for Representatives to the 
General Assembly in the several towns shall not be opened till 
the polls for Representatives are declared to be closed. The 
votes shall then be counted by the moderator and clerk, who 
shall announce the result, and give certificates to the persons 
elected. If there be no election, or not an election of the whole 



108 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

number of ReprRsentatives, to which the town is entitled, the 
polls for Representatives may be re-opened, and the like proceed- 
in<Ts shall be had, until an election shall take place ; provided, 
ho^'wevcr, that an adjonrnment of the election may be made to a 
time not exceedinir seven days from the first meeting. 

5. In the city of Providence, and other cities, the polls for Re- 
presentatives shall be kept open during the whole time of voting 
for the day; and the votes in the several wards shall be sealed 
lip, at the close of the meeting by the wardens and ward clerks/ 
in the presence of at least ten qualified electors, and delivered to 
Be city clerks. The mavor and aldermen of said city, or cities 
shall proceed to count said votes within two days from tin day of 
election; and if no election, or an election of only a portion of 
the Representatives, whom the Representative Districts are enti- 
tled to elect, shall have taken place, the mayor und aldermen 
shall order a new election, to be held not more than ten days 
from the day of the first election; and so on till the election of 
Representatives shall be completed. Certificates of election shall 
be furnisiied to the persons chosen by the city clerks. 

(j. If there be no choice of a Senator, or Senators, at the an- 
nual election, the Governor shall issue his warrant to the town 
and ward clerks of the several towns and cities, in the Senatorial 
District or Districts, that may have failed to elect, requiring them 
to open town or ward meetings for another election, on a day not 
more than fifteen days beyond the time of counting the votes for 
Senators. If, on the second trial there shall be no choice of a 
Senator, or Senators, the Governor shall certify the result to the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives ; and the House of Re- 
presentatives, and as many Senators as shall have been chosen, 
shall forthwith elect, in joint committee, a Senator or Senators, 
from the two candidates, who may receive the highest number of 
votes in each district. 

7. If there be no choice of Governor, at the annual election, 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall issue his war- 
rant to the clerks of the several towns and cities, requiring them 
to notify town and ward meetings for another election, on a day 
to be named by him, not more than thirty, nor less than twenty 
days beyond the time of receiving the report of the committee of 
the House of Representatives, who shall count the votes for Gov- 
ernor. If, on this second trial there shall be no choice of a Gov- 
ernor, the two Houses of the General Assembly shall, at their 
next session, in joint committee, elect a Governor from the two 
candidates having the highest number of votes, to hold his office 
for the remainder of the political year, and until his successor be 
duly (jualified. 

8. If there be no choice of Governor and Lieutenant Governor 
at the annual election, the same proceedings for the choice of a 
Lieutenant Governor shall be had as are directed in the preceding 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 109 

section ; provided, that the second trial for the election of Gov- 
ernor and Lieutenant Governor sliall be on the same day ; and 
also provided, that, if the Governor shall be chosen at the annual 
election, and the Lieutenant Governor shall not be chosen, then 
the last named officer shall be elected in joint committee of the 
two Houses, from the two candidates having the hiofhest number 
of votes, without a further appeal to the electors. The Lieuten- 
ant Governor, elected as is provided in this section, shall hold his 
office as is provided in the preceeding- section respecting the 
Governor. 

9. All town, city, and ward meetings for the choice of Repre- 
sentatives, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, Senators, State Offi- 
cers, Representatives to Congress, and Electors of President and 
Vice President, shall be notified by the town, city, and ward 
clerk, at least seven days before tJie same are held. 

10. In all elections held by tlie people under this Constitution, 
a majority of all the electors voting shall be necessary to the 
choice of the person or persons voted for. 

IL The oath, or affirmation, to be taken by all the officers 
named in this article, shall be the following. You, being elected 
to the place of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of 
State, General Treasurer, Attorney General, or to the places of 
Senators or Representatives, or to the office of Sheriff or Justice 
of the Peace, do solemnly swear, or severally solemnly swear, or 
affirm, that you will be true and faithful to the State of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, and that you will support the 
Constitution thereof; that you will support the Constitution of 
the United States, and that you will faithfully and impartially 
discharge the duties of your aforesaid office, to the best of your 
abilities and understanding — so help you God! or, this affirma- 
tion you make and give upon the peril of the penalty of perjury. 

ARTICLE XL 

OF THE JUDICIARY. 

1. The Judicial power of this State shall be vested in one Su- 
preme Court, and in such other Courts, inferior to the Supreme 
Court, as the Legislature may, from time to time, ordain and es- 
tablish ; and the jurisdiction of the Supreme and of all other 
Courts, may, from time to time, be regulated by the General As- 
sembly. 

2. Chancery powers may be conferred on the Supreme Court ; 
but no other Court exercising chancery powers shall be estab- 
lished in this State, except as is now provided by law. 

3. The Justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected in joint 
committee of the two Houses, to hold their offices for one year, 
and until their places be declared vacant by a resolution to that 
effect, which shall be voted for by a majority of all the members 
elected to the House in which it may originate, and be concurred 

10 



110 MIGHT AND RIGHT 

in by the same vote of the other House, without revision by the 
(iovernor. Such resolution shall not be entertained at any other 
than the annual session for the election of public officers : and, 
in default of the passage thereof at the said session, the Judge, 
or Judges, shall hold his or their place or places for another year. 
But a Judge of any Court shall be removable from office, if, upon 
impeachment, he shall bo found guilty of any official misde- 
meanor. 

4. In case of vacancy by the death, resignation, refusal, or in- 
ability to serve, or removal from the State of a Judge of any 
Court, his place may be filled by the joint committee, until the 
next annual election ; when, if elected, he shall hold his office as 
herein provided. 

5. The Justices of the Supreme Court shall receive a compen- 
sation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in 
office. 

(3. The Judges of the Courts inferior to the Supreme Court 
shall be annually elected in joint committee of the two Houses, 
except as herein provided. 

7. There shall be annually elected by each lown, and by the 
several wards in the city of Providence, a sufficient number of 
Justices of the Peace, or Wardens, resident therein, with such 
jurisdiction as the General Assembly may prescribe. And said 
Justices, or Wardens, (except in the towns of New Shoreman 
and Jamestown) shall be commissioned by the Governor, 

8. The General Assembly may provide, that Justices of the 
Peace, who are not re-elected, may hold their offices for a time 
not exceeding ten days beyond the day of the annual election of 
lliese officers. 

9. The Courts of Probate in this State, except the Supreme 
Court, shall remain as at present established by Law, until the 
General Assembly shall otherwise prescribe. 

ARTICLE XII. 

OF EDUCATION. 

1. All moneys which now are, -or may hereafter be appropriat- 
ed, by the authority of the State, to public education, shall be 
securely invested, and remain a perpetual fund for the mainte- 
nance of free Schools in this State ; and the General Assembly 
are prohibited from diverting said moneys, or fund, from this use 
and from borrowing, appropriating, or using the same, or any 
part thereof, for any other purpose, or under any preten(;e Avhat- 
soover. But the income derived from said moneys, or fund, shall 
be amiually paid over, by the General Treasurer, to the towns 
and cities of the State, for the support of said schools, in equita- 
ble proportions ; provided, however, that a portion of said income 
may, in the discretion of the General Assembly, be added to the 
principal of said fund. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. Ill 

2. The several towns and cities shall faithfully devote their 
portions of said annual distrihution to the support of Free 
Schools ; and, in default thereof, shall forfeit their shares of the 
same to the increase of the fund. 

3. All charitable donations for the support of Free Schools, 
and other purposes of Public Educatior;i, shall be received by the 
General Assembly, and invested, and applied agreeably to the 
terms prescribed by the donors ; provided the same be not incon- 
sistent with the Constitution, or with sound public policy ; in 
which case the donation shall not be received, 

ARTICLJG XIIL 

AMENDMENTS. 

' The General Assembly may propose amendments to this Con- 
stitution by the vote of a majority of all the members elected to 
eacli House Such propositions shall be published in the news- 
papers of the State ; and printed copies of such propositions shall 
be sent by the Secretary of State, with the names of all the 
members who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, 
to all the town and city clerks in the State; and the said propo- 
sitions shall be by said clerks inserted in the notices, by them 
issued, for warning the next annual town and ward meetings in 
April, and the town and ward clerks shall read said propositions 
to the electors when thus assembled, with all the names of all the 
Representatives and Senators who shall have voted thereon, with 
the yeas and nays, before the election of Representatives and 
Senators shall be had. If a majority of all the members elected 
at said annual meetings, present in each House, shall approve 
any proposition thus made, the same shall be published, as be- 
fore provided, and then sent to the electors in the mode provided 
in the act of approval ; and, if then approved by a majority of 
the electors who shall vote in town and ward meetings, to be spe- 
cially convened for that purpose, it shall become a part of the 
Constitution of the State. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

ON THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

1. This Constitution shall be submitted to the People, for their 
adoption or rejection, on Monday, the 27th day of December 
next, and on the two succeeding days ; and all persons voting 
are requested to deposit in the ballot-box printed or written 
tickets in the following form : — I am an American citizen, ot the 
age of twenty-one years, and have my permanent residence or 
home in this State. I am, (or not) qualified to vote under the 
existing laws of this State. I vote for (or against) the Constitu- 
tion formed by the Convention of the People, assembled at Pro- 
vidence, and which was proposed to the People by said Conven- 
2;ion, on the 18th day of November, 1841. 

2. Every voter is requested to write his name on the face of 



112 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

his ticket ; and every person, entitled to vote as aforesaid, who 
from sickness, or other causes, may be unable to attend and vote 
in the town or ward meetinfr, assembled for voting upon said 
Constitution, on the days aforesaid, is requested to write his 
name upon a ticket, and to obtain the signature upon the back 
of the same, as a person who has given his vote, as a witness 
thereto. And the Moderator, or Clerk of any town or ward 
meeting, convened for the purpose aforesaid, shall receive such 
vote, on either of the three days next succeeding the three 
days before named for voting on said Constitution. 

.'J. The citizens of the several towns in this State, and of the 
several wards in the city of Providence, are requested to hold 
town and ward meetings on the days appointed, and for the pur- 
pose aforesaid ; and also to choose in each town, and ward, a 
Moderator and Clerk, to conduct said meetings and receive the 
votes. 

4. The Moderators and Clerks are required to receive and 
carefully to keep the votes of all persons qualified to vote as 
aforesaid, and to make registers of all the persons voting ; which, 
together with the tickets given in by the voters, shall be sealed 
up, and returned by said moderators and clerks, with certificates 
signed and sealed by them, to the clerks of the Convention of 
the People, to be by them safely deposited and kept, and laid be- 
fore said Convention, to be counted and declared, at their next 
adjourned meeting on the 12th day of January, 1842. 

5. This Constitution, except so much thereof as relate to the 
election of the officers named in the sixth section of this article, 
shall, if adopted, go into operation on the first Tuesday in May, 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-two. 

(J. So much of the Constitution as relates to the election of 
officers named in this section, shall go into operation on the 
Monday before the third Wednesday of April next preceeding. 
The first election under this Constitution of Governor, Lieuten- 
ant Governor, Secretary of State, General Treasurer, and Attor- 
ney General, of Senators and Representatives, of Sheriffs for the 
several counties, and of Justices of the Peace for the several 
towns, and the Wards of the city of Providence, shall take place 
on the Monday aforesaid. 

7. The electors of the several towns and wards are authorised 
to assemble on the day aforesaid, without being notified as is 
provided m section niiit'i of Article X, and without the registra- 
tion required in section saventh of Article II, and to choose mode- 
rators and clerks, and proceed in the election of the officers 
named in the preceeding section. 

8. The votes given in at the first election for Representatives 
to the General Assembly, and for Justices of the Peace, shall be 
counted by the moderators and clerks of the towns, and wards, 
chosen as aloresaid ; and certificates of election shall be furnished 
by them lo the Representatives and Justices of the Peace elected. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 113 

9. Said moderators and clerks shall seal up, certify, and trans- 
tnit to the House of Representatives all tlie votes that may be 
given in, at said first election, for Governor and State officers, 
and for Senators and Sheriffs ; and the votes shall be counted as 
the House of Representatives may direct. 

10. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, at the 
first session of the same, quality himself to administer the oath of 
office to the members of the House, and to other officers, by tak- 
ing and subscribing- the same oath in presence of the House. 

11. The first session of the General Assembly shall be held in 
the city of Providence, on the first Tuesday of May, in the year 
'one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, with such adjourn- 
ments as may be necessary ; but all other sessions shall be held 
as is provided in Articles IV of this Constitution. 

12. If any of the Representatives whom the towns, or districts, 
are entitled to choose, at the first annnal election aforesaid, shall 
not be then elected, or if their places shall become vacant during 
the year, the same proceedings may be had to complete the elec- 
tion, or to supply vacancies, as are directed concerning elections 
in the preceding sections of this article. 

13. If there shall be no election of Governor or Lieutenant 
Governor, or of both of these officers, or of a Senator or Senators, 
at the first annual election, the House of Representatives, and as 
many Senators as are chosen, shall forthwith elect, in joint com- 
mittee, a Governor, or Lieutenant Governor, or both, or a Sena- 
tor or Senators, to hold their officers for the remainder of the po- 
litical year, and, in the case of the two officers first named, until 
their successors shall be duly qualified. 

14. If the number of Justices of the Peace determined by the 
several towns and wards on the day of the first annual election, 
shall not be then chosen, or if vacancies shall occur, the same 
proceedings shall be had as are provided for in this article in the 
case of a non-election of Representatives and Senators, or of 
vacancies in their officers. The Justices of the Peace thus elect- 
ed, shall hold office for the remainder of the political year, or until 
the second annual election of Justices of the Peace, to be held 
on such day as may be prescribed by the General Assembly. 

15. The Justices of the Peace elected in pursuance of the pro- 
visions of this Article may be engaged by the person acting as 
moderators of the town and ward meetings, as herein provided; 
?ind said Justices, after obtaining their certificates of election, 
may discharge the duties of their office, ^or a time not exceeding 
twenty days, without a commission from the Governor. 

16. Nothing contained in this Article, inconsistent with any 
of the provisions of other Articles of the Constitution, shall con- 
tinue in force for a longer period than the first political year un- 
der the same. 

17. The present government shall exercise all the powers with 

10* 



1X4 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

which it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one 
thousand eifht hundred and forty-two, and until then- successors 
under this Constitution shall be duly elected and qualified. 

18. All civil, judicial, and military ofiicers now elected, or 
who shall hcreaiter be elected by the General Assembly, or 
other competent authority, before the said first Tuesday of May, 
shall hold their offices and may exercise their pon ers until that 

time. . , . . ^ 

19. All laws and statutes, public and private, now m force, 
and not repugnant to this Constitution, sliall continue in force 
until they expire by tjieir oAvn limitation, or are repealed by the 
General Assembly. All contracts, judg-m.ents, actions, and riohts 
o\ action, shall be as valid as if this Constitution had not been 
made. All debts contracted, and engag-ements entered into, be- 
fore the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against 
the State, as if this Constitution had not been made. 

20. The Srpreme Court, established by this Constitution, shall 
have the same jurisdiction as the Supreme Judicial Court at pre- 
sent established ; and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which 
may be appealed to, or pending in the same; and shall be held 
at the same time and jdaces, in each county, as the present Su- 
preme Judicial Court, until the General Assembly shall other- 
wise prescribe. 

21. The citizens of the town of New Shorehara shall be here- 
after exempted from Military duty, and the duty of serving as 
jurors in the Courts of this State. The citizens of the town of 
Jamestown shall be foreever hereafter exempted from military 
field duty. 

22. The General Assembly shall, at their first session after 
the adoption of this Constitution, propose to the electors the 
question, whether the Avord " white," in the first line of the first 
section of Article II of the Constitution shall be stricken out. 
The question shall be voted upon at tiie succeeding annual elec- 
tion ; and if a majority of the electors voting shall vote to strike 
out the word aforesaid, it shall be stricken from the Constitution ; 
otherwise not. If the word aforesaid shall be stricken out, sec- 
tion :kl of Article II shall cease to be a part of the Constitution. 

23. The President, Vice President, and Secretaries, shall certi- 
fy and sign this Constitution, and cause the same to be published. 

Donr. hi Convention at Providence, on the 18ih day of J\ovem- 
her, in the year one thousand tight hundred and forty-one, and of 
American Independence the sixt}/'- sixth. 

JOSEPH JOSLIN, President of the Convention, 
WAGKR WEEDEN, > "l,. „ ., , 
SAMUEL H. WALES. ( ^^^^ Presidents, 
Attest : ^ 

WiM.iAM II. Smith, ? c^ , . 
JoiKv S. Harris, } ^"secretaries. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 115 

CHAPTER YII. 

THE RIGHT OF CHANGE. 

. And while the events recorded in the last chapter 
were going on, the Chartists, also, were busy — not 
merely with their own business, but an under-cur- 
rent was set in motion, calculated to undermine the 
works of their neighbors, which they had begun to 
perceive they could not openly prostrate. Like 
certain other rulers, in a certain other place, they re- 
solved ; 

" Our better part remains 
To work in close disguise, by fraud, or guile :" 

and, thereupon, the foulest slanders were propagated, 
and the grossest personal abuse — the dernier resort 
of conscious weakness — was freely indulged in. The 
Suffrage Party were represented to have no leaders, 
no talent, no money, no honesty ; and their particu- 
lar profession, which suited not the polished nerve 
of courtly ears, were held up in derison. 

But the TRUE spirit of Rhode Island was awake, 
and up, and acting — by which I mean not the spirit 
of domination, of usurpation, of despotic tyranny, as 
some of our statesmen are fain to represent it — but 
that high and indomitable spirit of liberty, which 
GOD breathed in the soul of man, when he first 
pronounced it living — and formed after His own 
IMAGE — and Avhich no hand of clay ever bestowed — 
or ever can bestow. This spirit was awake — is 
awake : and not till the universal heart of Rhode 
Island shall forget to cherish the names of her vene- 
rated founders — not till the good seed which was 
planted by her noblest exiled son, when first she 
opened her maternal arms to receive him, shall be 
covered with the blight and mildew of death, and no 



11(3 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

more spring up, and blossom, bearing precious fruits, 
shall that spirit be lulled by sorcery nito forgetful- 
ness of its rights and duties, or be compelled by 
force to surrender its high trust. 

In regard to the People's Constitution, T would 
observe that a perfect work is not to be expected 
from one effort, even of the wisest and the greatest ; 
but must be the result of a series of efforts. Of its 
general merits, pro and con, I leave those best quali- 
fied to judge for themselves, fully believing that, in 
most respects, it will be its own best vindicator. 

It was finally submitted to the People, as record- 
ed in the last chapter, and was adopted by a majority 
of 4746. Deducting 3000, supposed to be the num- 
ber of persons insane, convicts, and under guardian- 
ship, from 26,142, the number of males in the State 
over 21 years of age, and you have 23,142, of whom 
a majority Avould be 11,572. 13,944 votes were 
given for the Constitution, which is 873 votes more 
than one-half of all the adult males in the State : 
and 2372 more than half of all those qualified to 
vote for the Constitution. After deducting from 
23,142, the whole number who voted for the Con- 
stitution, we have a remainder of 9198, of whom 
9146 did not vote, and 52 voted against the Consti- 
tution. There were 4960 freemen who voted for 
the Constitution ; which, taking 8622, the number 
of votes polled in 1840, as the standard number of 
freemen, gives a majority of 1298 of all the free- 
men in the State. Was not, then, the making and 
adoption of the People's Constitution, eminently, 
pre-emincnthj the work of the People ; and that, 
too, even of the (so called) " legal people ?" The 
fact challenges denial. There the names stand, in 
that goodly-sized book, inscribed in free and fair 
characters; and, with some few exceptions, there 
can be no question, that the act which placed them 
there, was as free, and fair. Among them I find 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 117 

the names of almost all the sm-viving revolutionary 
veterans ; and am most happy to see that of the ve- 
nerable Elisha Olney, late of North Providence. He 
was the warning officer who first notified the inhabi- 
tants of his town in the Revolution. The first vote 
polled at Scituate was by Captain Boss, a hero of 
the Revolution. He declared himself ready to de- 
fend in age the glorious principles for which he con- 
tended in youth. 

Taking the Declaration of Independence for their 
manual, the fathers of '76 for their exemplars, the 
opinions of eminent living statesmen for their autho- 
rity, the Suffrage Party had framed a Bill of Rights, 
and a Constitution of Government, which, on being 
submitted to the People, was returned to them by 
the largest majority that had ever voted upon any 
question in Rhode Island : and, in consideration of 
these facts, they believed themselves justified before 
God, and Man, in putting forth the following : 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE 

PLANTATIONS. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, the Convention of the PEOPLE of this State, at 
their last session, in the city of Providence, on the 13th day of 
January, A. D, 1842, passed the following- resolutions, to wit: 

Whereas, hy the return of the rotes upon the CONSTITU- 
TION proposed to the citizens of this State, by this Convention 
on the 18th day of November last, it satisfactorily appears that 
the citizens of this State, in their original and sovereign capacity, 
have ratified and adopted said Constitution, by a large majority : 
and the will of th& PEOPLE, thus decisively made known, ought 
to be implicitly obeyed, and faithfully executed: 

We do therefore Resolve and Declare that said Constitu- 
tion rightfully ought to be, and is, the paramount law and Con- 
stitution OF THE State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations. 

And we do further Resolve and Declare, for ourselves, and 
in behalf of the People whom we represent, that we will estab- 
lish SAID Constitution and sustaiiN and defend the same, 

BY ALL NECESSARY MEANS. 

Resolved, That the officers of this Convention make Proclama- 
tion of the return of the votes upon the Constitution, and that 
the same has been adopted, and has become the Constitution of 



lis MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

this State ; and that they cause said Proclamation to be published 
in the nowspnpers of the same. 

Now, Therefore, in obedience to the above vote of said Con- 
vention, WE, the iindersi<;-ned, officers of the same, do hereby 
Proclaim, and make known to all the People of this State, that 
said Constitution of right ought to be, and is, the paramount 
LAW and Constitution of the State of Rhode Islaixd and 
Pro V 1 1) K >' c e Plant ati ons. 

And we hereby call upon the citizens of the State, to give their 
aid and support in carrying said Constitution into full operation 
and ctfect, according to the terms and provisions thereof. 

Witness our hands at Providence, in said State, this 13th day 
of January, 1842. 

JOSEPH JOSLTN, President of the Convention, 
WAGER WEEDEN, ) Vice 

SAMUEL H. WALES, ^ Presidents, 

Wm. H.Smith, ? g^.^etaries. 
John S. Harris, ^ 

And here let us inquire by what right the above 
acts were done, and the above Proclamation issued ? 
This inquiry, it will be seen, involves several ques- 
tions of vital import. But before discussing them, 
let us look for a moment at the position which the 
unenfranchised citizens of Rhode Island have occu- 
pied since the Revolution. The General Assembly, 
as we have before seen, was both an independent 
and omipotent body. They could enact any law, 
however odious, and carry that law into effect. 
There being no constitutional provisions, and, con- 
sequently, no constitutional check, the people, espe- 
cially the unenfranchised part, were without any 
^' certain remedy" for any abuse ; since when there 
was no Constitution, there was none to violate. 
They could not appeal to precedent ; for precedent 
would depose against them, by showing various acts 
of irresponsible authority. Laws could not be ap- 
pealed to ; for as clay is in the hands of the potter, 
so was Law in those of the General Assembly. 
Tliey moulded, created, and destroyed it, with no 
check but their own sovereign will ; an appeal to 
the Legislature would be a solemn mockery of pe^ 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 119 

tition ; because that body would never set against 
themselves. An appeal to any Court of Law would 
he equally ridiculous — equally useless — because 
the Judges were the creatures, and the Courts the 
tools of the Legislature — sharp instruments, indeed, 
and admirably calculated for shaving others, but 
never designed to turn against themselves. The 
Courts sat, and acted only to enforce the Legislative 
will, and unless some principle of common law were 
involved, or the Constitution of the United States 
were violated, an independent decision was never 
secure. In the mean time justice became, day by 
day, more unequally divided ; until three-fifths of 
the citizens of the State were reduced to a condition 
of vassalage. 

Does any person require evidence that such a state 
of things really existed ? I give it, in the words of 
a Rhode Islander. In an Address by Wm. E. Rich- 
mond, published in the Manufacturers' and Farmers' 
Journal, of which Mr. R. was editor, I find the fol- 
lowing passages. The Address v/as published 
November 27tli, December 11th, and 18th, 1820; 
and January 11th, 1821, and was called forth by the 
adoption of their Constitution, by the people of Con- 
necticut. 

"If an utter stranger to our laws," says Mr. R., 
" should consider the Charter in reference to the 
Declaration of Independence, by which the supreme 
and controlling power which the English King in 
Council, and in his Courts of Law, exercised over the 
proceedings of the General Assembly was abolished, 
and that body left without any superior or controling 
power, to check its attempts upon individual rights, 
or general freedom, he must be astonished, that a 
free people have, for more than forty years, submit- 
ted to a species of government, in theory, if not in 
practice, as despotic as that of the Autocrat of all 
THE RussiAS. That the General Assembly, which 



120 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

now pretends to a legitimate right to govern us, 
exists and acts hij its oicn authority , alone — that 
the Bill of Rights, which was lately a theme of his 
admiration, flowed from the Qiiere good will and 
pleasure of that Assembly, and may be revoked at 
its loill and pleasure — that the people of this State 
elect their representatives to this Assemhly only by 
its permission — a permission which it may with- 
draw at pleasure — that this Assembly does not 
acknowledge its dependence on the people, but, on 
the contrary, considers itself as existing by its own 
mere ivill, icitJiout check, balance, or control, exercis- 
ing the whole government. Legislative, Judicial, 
and Executive. Any man born in a free country, 
and educated with clear and precise perceptions of 
the true attributes of a representative and popular 
government, will be astonished, that the people or 
this State have so long submitted to a platform of 
government, which is devoid of all authority from 
the people ; and which, though it gives the whole 
supreme power to EIGHTY-FOUR DESPOTS, 
instead of one, is not the less arbitrary and despotic 
on that account.'^ 

And, again ; speaking of the Government, he sa^^s : 
' ^It answers to our ideas of a pure despotism ; because 
the General Assembly engrosses and exercises, in 
person, or by substitution, all the powers of sove- 
reignty." 

Now where, I ask, should a people, subjected to 
all these inconveniencies — to say nothing oiivrongs 
— for wrongs is a harsh word to the delicate nerve 
of modern ears ; where, and how, should they find 
a remedy ? There was no legal mode of amend- 
ment pointed out. They were told that the remedy 
rested solely Avith the Legislature ; and to the Legis- 
lature they applied for redress, making this one 
subject — the right of citizenship, or suffrage — the 
ground of petition for more than forty years. But 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 121 

when did a crowned tyrant, because his subjects 
asked him to do so — petitioned him to do so — vohm- 
tarily lay down his sceptre, and abdicate his throne ? 
That is not an act in human nature to perform ; and 
it affects not the question whether the despot has 
one head, or many heads ; only that the hydra 
would be the worse to deal with, of the two. Ac- 
cordingly we find the unenfranchised men of Rhode 
Island — many of them, too, descendants of the hon- 
ored Founders — stigmatised as aliens, degraded, 
low, unworthy of notice ; and their petitions were 
laid by in silent contempt, or noticed only to be in- 
sulted. But rising gradually in spirit and intelli- 
gence,, ray by ray, the truth broke in upon them, 
until the whole soul became illumined, and the long- 
ing heavy heart expanded, with the loftiest thought 
which any created being can conceive — the con- 
sciousness of manhood, with all its duties, responsi- 
bilities, and prerogatives. They pondered these 
things in their own liearts. They communed with 
each other. They enquired abroad. All evidence, 
but the bribed and false evidence suborned by their 
oppressors, justified them : and they determined to 
be free. Is there any freeman in this country who 
will condemn their resolution ? If there is, I im- 
peach his freedom. He is either a despot, or a slave ; 
for neither of these can appreciate a free thought, or 
generate a free action. 

The obligation does not rest merely upon the Suf- 
frage Party, to establish the validity of their right of 
rule ; but the burden, also, of proving theirs, rests 
upon the Charter Government. Bring forward the 
scales of even-handed justice, and let us try them in 
the balance, with not merely opinions, but princi- 
ples, for weights. 

The first settlers of Rhode Island never pretended 
to claim an original and independent jurisdiction. 
They, always, by all their acts, recognised the power 
11 



122 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

of tlie crown, and held themselves in subordmation 
to the royal authority. Even the lands which they 
purchased of the natives, were obtained, and held, 
by virtue of the royal patent. Of course, then, the 
government of Rhode Island was not a pure demo- 
cracy ; since the sovereignty was vested in the 
crown. By the Declaration of Independence, the 
royal authority was abrogated. To whom, then, 
did the sovereignty revert ? ^' To the Landholders — 
the Freemen :" say the Chartists, " because they 
were created a body corporate and politic, and were 
destined to remam such forever." But by what 
right did such corporations establish any exclusive 
privileges ? Had the Fathers of '76 intended to re- 
cognise any such, would they not have given their 
immortal declaration quite another form ? Should it 
not have been, all Landholders, or all Landed Cor- 
porations are created free and equal ? However great 
the absurdity involved, truth would have compelled 
them to make some such declaration, so as to sus- 
tain the trite doctrines we have, all along, (vainly it 
seems,) imagined they intended to explode. But 
no ; they did no such thing. They declared that 
all MEN were created free and equal ■ and, not only 
so, but ALL men : and that principal is at the bottom 
Ihie of everythhig that is true, in the political, social, 
or moral elements connected with the being of man. 
The whole people, then, as successors of the King, 
became tenants in common of the sovereignty. 

''Hut this is impossible," says Judge Durfee ; " be- 
cause, were it so, by the act which proclaimed these 
states sovereign and independent, their very exist- 
ence, as states, would have been annihilated." " The 
act of separation," agam, says Mr. Durfee, '' was the 
act of the corporate people ; and all that was acquired 
by that act, was acquired by the corporate people, 
and could be acquired by no other than a corporate 
people. No7ic hit a corporate people has the capa- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 123 

city to receive and exercise sovereignty. The natural 
people has not the capacity to inherit^ or succeed to 
sovereignty.^^ I will not quote further, lest I permit 
the gentleman to demolish his own argument — 
which he does, for himself, at the very next clause 
in the sentence. But it suits my purpose now, that 
his argument should be valid — or, I should rather 
say, plausible. Could Mr. Durfee tell at what pre- 
cise point of time the transition was effected, and 
what ceremony attended it ? Was it when the De- 
claration was first read, or afterwards published, that 
the royal chains were dissolved, and the corporation 
became its own master ? But a corporation is not an 
original being. It must have a pre-existing cause — 
it must have been created. The idea of a creation, 
pre-supposes that of a creator ; and also that the 
thing created should be subordinate to the creating 
power. Who, then, created the corporation ? " Why 
the freemen," you say. Very well. But freemen, 
according to your definition, are not original beings 
. — they, too, are the subjects of causation. They 
have been created. Who created them ? ''' They 
were admitt^ed free of the company," you say. Of 
what company ? -' Why, the chartered company of 
King Charles." Here we have it; we have now 
completed the circle. We have got back again to 
royalty and its exclusive prerogatives. We find a 
government framed in and through a Landed Compa- 
ny, existing by virtue of an authority which Rhode 
Island herself, through her delegates that signed the 
Declaration of Independence, had declared ^'■totally 
dissolved." But this government still continued to ex- 
ist, -to the exclusion of all citizens who were not shel- 
tered under the wings of the royal charter, and that 
in violation of the Declaration which Rhode Island 
through her delegates who signed it, had pledged 
herself to sustain, in theory and in fact, and to dis- 
tribute the prerogatives it asserted, equally among 



124 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

all her children. The same old government was con- 
tinued, without so much as asking leave of a large 
portion of the citizens — and still it was continued 
through a period of more than sixty years, though 
they who suflerod by it ceased not to protest against 
it — ceased not to cry for redress ; and they, too, had 
grown to be a very large majority of the whole peo- 
ple. This government has been called Republican 
— nay, it has been held up as a model of wisdom 
and equity, in structure, and m administration. It 
has been vauntingly said, again and again, that no 
other state — no, not in the world, was so free as 
ours. Let us see how its government will square 
with Madison's definition of a republic. 

'•' It is essential to such a government," (that is 
republican) '' that it be derived from the great body 
of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion 
or favored class of it ; otherwise, a handful of tyran- 
nical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a dele- 
gation of their power, might aspire to the rank of 
republicans, and claim for their government the ho- 
norable title of republic." Did Madison mean by 
this, the great body of rulers, merely, with their 
constituents, the freeholders ? No one can even pre- 
tend to think so, with any shadow of candor. Ma- 
dison, then, would not have called Rhode Island a 
Republic ; and, by the same rule, would not have 
sanctioned the conduct of her '^nobles.''' 

But I return to the original point. 

Did our Fathers, then, when they looked round 
on that " old Thirteen," see only Corporations, land- 
ed, or otherwise ? Did they not rather see men — liv- 
ing, thinking, rational beings, with true souls, and 
strong hearts, and ready hands, and feet that stayed 
not at home when their rights were invaded? 
Through these, in these, and these alone, they re- 
cognised the State ■— the new State, which was to 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 125 

be governed by the law, and the constitution-para- 
mount, which is written where no despot can erase 
it — deep in the nature of man ? If it were not so, 
then were their Acts, and their Declarations, a great 
bundle of absurdities — and, worse, an unjust resist- 
ance to just power, and a Avanton waste of human life. 

In summing up his paragraph on the corporations, 
Mr. Durfee asks, " What became of the Confedera* 
tion ? What became of the Congress that made the 
declaration ?" I answer, neither the Confederation, 
nor the Congress, was created by virtue of any royal 
authority, but by virtue of the principle they had 
made the basis of their new system — the Right of 
man to participate in the government of the com- 
munity to which he belongs. 

Here let me call the attention of Mr. Durfee and 
his associates to one fact, of which they do not 
seem to be aware. The Confederation was quietly 
set aside by the People, through their delegates in 
Congress, and was succeeded by the Constitution ; 
and the first quiet, bloodless revolution, of Avhich the 
history of the world bears record, was etfected. 
There stands the triumphant principle, which the 
revolution established, confirmed by the seal of the 
first Congress, who, by their successful experiment, 
practically reaffirmed the truth, that " it is the right 
of the people to alter, or abolish," their constitutions 
of government ; and showing, by their own act, that 
such change might he effected peacefully. There 
stands our first great precedent, as it shown forth, 
living, from the hands of the sages of '76 ! There it 
shall stand forever, as an example to all future ages, 
showing that the great principle for which we con- 
tend, is no more sublmie in theory, than safe and 
true in practice. 

Who, then, I ask once m.ore, were the recipients 
of the sovreignty ? " The corporation," still per- 
sists Mr. Durfee, '' because the sovereign will, being 
IP 



126 MIGHT AND KIGHT. 

a unit, could not be divided among thousands of inde- 
pendent individuals, without being destroyed." How 
Mr. Uurfee fixed upon the locality, wherein to de- 
posit his ^'wiit,'^ I cannot for my life see. Would 
not each individual of the Freemen who made the 
component parts of the body politic, claim to be, in 
his own person, a representation of his full portion 
of that sovereignty, or in other words, claim his 
proper dividend of the ^^unit?'^ I believe no one 
can deny this. Then is not the '' vnii'^ divided ? 
And what becomes of the argument? It arrives 
simply to this — A ^'unit" may be divided among 
hundreds, and remain in safety ; but if it be divided 
among thouscmds, it is lost. Whoever can see the 
force of it, must have good optics. 

" For optics sharp, it needs, I ween, 
To see what w not to be seen." 

But where then, is the sovereignty vested ! '' In 
the government and people cotemporaneously," says 
Mr. Jackson.* " In the political people," says Mr. 
Randolph.* ''In the people," says Mr. Hazard.* 
Truly. But I am forced to ask a strange question 
for a native of this free state. Who are the people ? 
'' The Freemen," confidently answers Mr. Hazard ; 
and all the different members of the Oligarchy echo 
the assertion, with all their appendages, by which I 
mean the various chattels in human shape, which 
they have purchased by proscription, bribery, patron- 
age, and otherwise. 

Let us try the assertions of these gentlemen by 
those 01 some others, who are, I think, quite as 
wise — quite as great — and, what is better, quite 
as noNEST. I Avill begin with those of Rhode Island 
herself, that out of her own mouth her degenerate 
sons may receive their condemnation. 

When the Delegates of the People of Rhode Isl- 

♦ Members of the General Assembly. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 127 

and met in Convention, for the purpose of ratifying 
the Constitution of the United States, on the 29th 
day of May, 1790, they issued a declaration, which 
was a recapitulation of the great work of Jeiferson, 
and hardly inferior to it. The principles of this do- 
cument were so directly opposed to those of the 
Government, that it became a matter of grave policy 
to keep it nicely laid away ; and, probably, very few 
men in the State knew of its existence, until it was 
drawn forth from among its mouldering companions, 
by Judge Staples, on the occasion of the last semi- 
centennial celebration of the ratification of the Con- 
stitution. And a very injudicious act was that. 
Here I find '' That all power is naturally vested in, 
and, consequently, derived from the people; [not 
Landholders] that magistrates, therefore, are their 
trustees and agents, and at all times ame7iahle to 
them.'''' 

William E. Richmond, whom I have taken occa- 
sion to quote before, said, '' The People of every 
political community are^ under God^ the only legiti- 
mate source of political poioer. To them, and to 
them only, belongs the right of establishing govern- 
ments." 

Wilson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, speaks directly and explicitly to the 
point in question. He was a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence ; was a member of the Con- 
vention which formed the Constitution of the United 
States, and of the Pennsylvania State Convention 
which adopted it ; a Judge of the Supreme Court of 
the United States ,* a professor and learned expounder 
ef the law, and reviser of the Laws of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

^' Perhaps some politician who has not considered 
with sufficient accuracy our political systems, would 
answer; ^but i:i our government the supreme power 
is vested in the Constitutions.' This opinion ap- 



12S miCtHT and right. 

proaches a step nearer the truth, (than the position 
that it resides in the Legislature) but does not reach 
it. The truth is, that in our governments the su* 
pretnc, absolute, and uncontrolahle jpoioer^ remains in 
THE PEOPLE. As our constitutious are superior to 
our legislatures, so the people are superior to our 
constitutions. Indeed, the superiority in this last 
instance is much greater, for the people possess, over 
our constitutions, control in act, as well as in right." 

Again he sa^^s, vol. 1, p. 25, '' The dread and re- 
doubtable sovereign when traced to his ultimate 
source, has been found, as he ought to have been 
found, in the free and inde'pendent man. This truth, 
60 simple and natural, and yet so neglected, may be 
appreciated as the fii-st and fundamental principle in 
the science of government." 

Locke says : "I affirm that the liberty for which 
we contend, is granted by God to every man^ in his 
own person, in such a manner as may be useful to 
him, and his posterity." Vol. 1, p. 403. 

Vattel says: "This (the sovereign) authority 
essentially belongs to the body of the society." 

Law of Nations, p. 48. 

The Declaration of Independence says : '' Tliat all 
power is naturally vested in, and consequently de- 
rived from the people :" and Judge Story, in his 
Commentaries, says: "The Declaration puts the 
doctrme on the true sround — that ffovernments de- 
rive their powers from the consent of the governed." 

INIontcsquieu speaks of " The People in whom the 
supreme power resides." Spirit of Laws, Book 2, 
cap. 2. 

Jay, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, says: "At the Revolution the sove- 
reignty devolved on the People ; and they are truly 
the sovereigns of the country ; but they are sove- 
reigns without subjects, (unless the African slaves 
among us may be so called,) and have none to gov- ' 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 129 

ern but themselves : the citizens of America are 
equal as fellow citizens^ and as joint tenants in the 
sovereignty y — [2. Dallas's Reports, 409. 

Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, says : "It has been said that the 
people had already surrendered all their powers to 
the State sovereignties, and had nothing more to 
give. But surely the question whether they may 
resume or modify the powers granted to government, 
does not remain to he settled hy this country. ^^ 

[4. Wheaton's Reports, 405. 

Judge Wilson says again : '' Permit me to mention 
one great principle, the t^?7«/ principle I may well call 
it, which diiiuses animation and vigor through all the 
others. The principle 1 mean is this, that the 
supreme or sovereign power resides in the citizens at 
large ; and that, therefore, they always retain the 
right of abolishing, altering, or amending their con- 
stitution at whatever time and in whatever Tnanner, 
they shall deem expedient." Lectures on Law, vol. 
1, p. 17. 

I might multiply authorities, but I forbear : for 
have I not traced this poor hunted sovereignty to its 
ultimate retreat — its primal investment, in man ? 
Is not the reserved power — the ''power behind the 
throne, greater than the throne itself," most properly 
— nay, unquestionably bestowed here ? Methinks I 
hear dissenting voices saying " These authorities all 
go for nothing ; because by the word people not the 
whole people is meant, but only the freemen. But 
let me ask what do the terms " every man^^^ " hody 
of the society ^^'' ^^ citizens at large, ^^ mean} A par- 
ticular portion ; or the whole ? 

By placing the power of sovereignty in the 
corporation, or the laws, you are involved in 
an absurdity — you make the creature paramount 
to the creator. It is a heathenish doctrine, that 
man must bow down and worship the work of 



130 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

his own hands. If you place it in property, 
you might, by the same rule, admit some of the in- 
ferior animals to this distinguished honor. The 
Chimpanz^* chooses his lot, and builds himself a 
house, lie is a ^ Hand holder f^ and all of us are 
well acquainted with the Beaver, as an owner of 
'' Water Privileges ;" and if sovereignty is vested 
in any thing foreign to the man himself, why may 
not these be freemen, and suitable members of the 
body-corporate ? But I weary with reasoning with 
those, who, if we may judge by their logic, are 
cousins of no distant removal from the Chimpanz^ 
himself; and, with the intimation that if they have 
four hands apiece, they will find, work sufficient for 
them all to do, before they prove that Man, and not 
God, is the creator of people, I dismiss this para- 
graph. 

To whom then did this residuary power, the ulti- 
mate sovereignty, revert at the revolution ? To the 
People I answer. Unquestionably, to the whole 
People. If the power passed to the few there must 
have been some expressed act of surrender, by which 
the remaining portion bestowed their proper sove- 
reignty on the majority. No such act can be shewn. 
And if there were any, it would be invalid. An in- 
herent and original right cannot be invalidated, even 
by a voluntary act. A man, for instance, cannot 
divest himself of the right to be happy ; because 
that right is conjoined with his nature, his very 
being. He may, indeed, by violating the laws of 
his nature, deprive himself of the power of being 
happy ; but never of the right to be so. The Decla- 
ration of Independence says '' That there are certain 
natural rights, of which men, when they form a 
social compact, cannot deprive or divest their pos- 
terity ; among which are the enjoyment of life and 

* The species of Quatlrumana which approaches most nearly 
to man. ^ 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 131 

liberty, with the means of acquiring, possessing, and 
protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining hap- 
piness and safety." So that if by any possibihty 
our Fathers could have divested themselves of the 
rights of citizenship, it is very plain that they could 
not have divested us of it. 

The question of the People's sovereignty being 
established, by what mode, or through what chan- 
nel, were they to obtain a Bill of Rights, by which 
their liberties would be secured? Mr. Goddard 
says : "We have moreover maintained that where a 
Constitution provides no mode of amending itself, 
the people must effect the desired reform through 
the agency of the Legislature, the representatives 
and agents of the people. No other mode of chang- 
ing constitutions of government can we admit to be 
*'an explicit act of the whole people.' " And this is 
the sentiment of the Oligarchy. Now what if three- 
fifths of the people have none of these agents, or 
representatives ; and what if other people's agents 
will not interest themselves in their business ; though 
they have patiently waited, hardly ceasing to peti- 
tion for more than fifty years ? What must the peo- 
ple do then ? Must they settle down into the abject 
condition of slaves, to be only the more wretched 
for having souls ? And the General Assembly, with 
a nod of amiable condescension, strokes its whiskers 
very complaciently ; and, with a smile of perfect 
security, assents to the proposition. The idea of 
slaves, and slavery, has always been to it an exceed- 
ingly composing and agreeable thought. It has 
helped it to digest many a good dinner, eaten at the 
State's expense. 

The men of Rhode Island began to think other- 
wise ; and in process of time, they began to act 
otherwise. In short they took steps to right them- 
selves, as we have already recited, seeing there was 
none other to right them. And, thereupon, then' 



132 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

master put on an air of offended dignity, swelled to 
the full dimenisons of its biggest garment, while its 
awful brow wore a terrible frown. But the men of 
Rhode Island, nothing daunted, went on with their 
Avork ; and let us see what authorities we can find 
to justify them. 

Montesquieu says : " The people are extremely well 
qualified for choosing those whom they are to en- 
trust with a part of their authority. They have only 
to be determined by things which they cannot be 
strangers to, and by facts that are obvious to sense." 
Spirit of Laws, Book 2, chap. 2. 

Vattel says : '' If a nation is dissatisfied with the 
public administration it may reduce it to order, and 
reform the government. In virtue of the same prin- 
ciples it is certain that if the nation is uneasy under 
its constitution, it has a i^ight to change it. The 
opinion of the majority must pass without dispute^ 
for that of the whole nation ; otherwise it would be 
impossible for the society ever to take any resolu- 
tion." — Law of Nature, p. 67. 

Algernon Sydney says: ''Filmer doubts who 
shall judge of the lawful cause of changing the gov- 
ernment, and says 'it is a pestilent conclusion to 
place that power in the multitude.' " 

'' But why should this be esteemed pestilent, and 
to whom ? If the allowance of such a power in the 
senate was pestilent to Nero, it was beneficial to 
niankind ; and the denial of it, which would give 
Nero an opportunity of continuing in his villanies, 
would have been pestilent to the best men whom he 
endeavored to destroy ; and to all others Avho re- 
ceived benefit from them. 

But this question depends upon another; for if 
governments are instituted for the pleasure, great- 
ness, or profit of one man, he must not be interrupt- 
ed ; for the opposing of his will is to overthrow the 
institution. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 133 

'^ On the other side, if the good of the governed 
be sought, care must be taken that the end he accom- 
plished^ though it be with the prejudice of the gov- 
ernor. If the power be originally in the multitude, 
and one or more men, to whom the exercise of it, 
or a part of it was. committed, had no more than 
their brethren, till it was conferred on him, or them, 
it cannot be believed that rational creatures would 
advance one or a few of their equals above them- 
selves, unless in consideration of their own good; 
and I find no inconvenience in leaving to them a 
right of judging whether this be duly performed, or 
not. 

'^ We say, in general, ' He that institutes may also 
abrogate ;' most especially when the institution is not 
only bij^ but for himself. If the multitude, there- 
fore, do institute, the multitude may abrogate ; and 
they themselves, or those who succeed them in the 
same right, can only be fit judges of the performance 
of the ends of the institution." 

" Our author (Filmer) may perhaps say ; the pub- 
lic peace may be hereby disturbed ; but he ought to 
know there can be no peace where there is no justice, 
nor any justice if the government instituted for the 
good of a nation, be turned to its ruin. But in plain 
English, the inconveniences with which such as he 
endeavors to affright us, is no more than that he, or 
they, to whom the power is given, may be restrain- 
ed, or chastised, if they betray their trust ; which I 
presume Avill displease none, but such as would 
rather subject Rome, with the best part of the world 
depending upon it, to the will of Caligula, or Nero, 
than Caligula or Nero to the judgment of the senate 
and people ; that is rather to expose many great and 
brave nations to be destroyed by the rage of a sav- 
age beast, than to subject that beast to the judgment 
of all, or the choicest men of them ; Avho can have 
no interest to pervert them, nor other reason to be 
12 



134 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

severe to him, than to prevent the mischiefs he would 
commit ; and to save the people from ruin." — [Vol. 

1, p. 279. 

And It is because the Suifrage Movement, and the 
principles which it elicited, was pestilent to '' Nero," 
and the partisan favorites of Nero, with all their ap- 
purtenances small and large, that it has been so cried 
out against — so traduced — so opposed. 

And again Sydney says : '' Governments, and the 
magistrates that execute them, are created by man. 
They who give a being to them cannot but have the 
right of regulating, limiting, and directing them, as 
best pleaseth themselves.'^ — [Vol. 1, p. 296. 

And again : " The law of the instituted power is 
to accomplish the end of its institution, as creatures 
are to do the will of their Creator ; and in deflecting 
from it overflow their own being. Magistrates are 
distinguished from other men by the power with 
which the law invests them, for the public good : 
he that cannot, or will not, procure that good, de- 
stroys HIS OWN BEING." 

By this rule our Charter magistrates were long 
since dead — struck to the heart by the recoiling 
weapon with which they would have transpierced 
the liberties of the people — destroyed by their own 
suicidal hands : and we had only to give them de- 
cent rites of sepulture, leaving their own public deeds 
to be their iittmg monuments. 

Lord Russell who Avas one of the Council of Six* 
which was formed to check the despotic proceedings 
of Charles and his brother, and was the fellow-mar- 
tyr of Sydney, in his writings and conversation ex- 
pressed the same sentiments. When the Doctors 
Burnet and Tillotson with the hope of saving his 

* The romaininor five were the Duke of Monmouth, Algernon 
Sydney, Lords Essex and Howard, and John Hampden. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 135 

life, attempted to persuade him to acknowledge to 
the king that subjects had in no case whatever a 
right to resist the throne, Russell replied : " Upon 
that hypothesis I see no difference between this 
government and the Turkish. I can have no con- 
ception of a limited monarchy which has not a right 
to defend its own limitations ; and my conscience 
will not permit me to say otherwise to the king." 
And the noble martyr gave the highest evidence of 
sincerity that man could give. He literally sealed 
this great principle with his blood. It follows, then, 
by the authority of Russell, that, since we may de- 
fine no limitations of the power of our hydra-despot, 
the General Assembly, our government is no freer 
than that of the Turks. 

Sovereignty, we have seen, by all evidence, self- 
associate, and suborned, must exist in the man ; and 
can exist in no other-where. And, now that we 
have a platform whereon to establish it, the Right 
OF Change will be a structure not difficult to rear. 
Let us search authorities for evidence on this point, 
also. 

Locke says : '^ The legislature, being only a fidu- 
ciary power, to act for certain ends, there remains 
still in the people a supy^eme poiver to renew or alter 
the legislative when they find the legislature act con- 
trary to the trust reposed in them. 

''If they (the people) have set limits to the dura- 
tion of their legislature, and made this supreme 
power in any person or assembly only temporary : 
or, else, when, by the miscarriages of those in autho- 
rity, it is forfeited ; upon its forfeiture, or at the de- 
termination of the time set, it reverts to the society ; 
and the people have a right to act, as supreme, and 
continue the legislative in themselves, or erect a new 
form ; or, under the old form, place it in new hands 
— as they think good." — [C. 13, S. 149, 



13G MIGHT AxND RIGHT. 

Uiidoiibtedly Locke used the word '^people" in 
the good old sense, and intended it should represent 
every person in the State, who, by his age and 
ability to judge in such matters, would have been a 
party to the social compact, if it had been formed 
anew at the time. 

Robert Hall says : ''As no man can have any 
natural or inherent right to rule any man more than 
another, it necessarily follows, that a claim to domin- 
ion, wherever it is lodged, must be ultimately re- 
ferred back to the explicit, or implied consent of the 
people. Whatever source of civil authority is assign- 
ed different Irom this, will be found to resolve itself 
into mere force. But as the natural equality of one 
generation, is the same with that of another, the 
PEOPLE have always the same right to new-model 
their government, and set aside their rulers. This 
right, hke every other, may be exerted capriciously 
and absurdly ; but no human poiuer can have any 
pretensions to intercept its exercise. For civil rulers 
cannot be considered as having any claims that are 
coextended with those of the people, nor as forming 
a party separate from the nation. They are appoint- 
ed by the community to execute its will, not to oppose 
it ; they cannot bind the society itself, or prevent it, 
when it shall think proper^ from forming an entire 
new arrangement; — a right that no compact ca7i 
alienate^ or diminisJi, and which has been exerted 
as often as a free government had been formed. 

" With the enemies of freedom it is a usual arti- 
fice, to represent the sovereignty of the people as a 
license to anarchy and disorder. But the tracing up 
civil power to that source, will not diminish our ob- 
ligations to obey ; it only explains its reasons, and 
settles It on clear, determined principles. It turns 
blind submission into rational obedience, tempers the 
passion for liberty with the love of order, and places 
mankind in a happy medium, between the extremes 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 137 

of anarchy on the one side, and oppression on the 
other. It is the polar star that will conduct us safe 
over the ocean of political debate, and speculation — 
the laAV of laws — the legislator of legislators." — An 
Apology for the Freedom of the Press. S. 4. 

If Milton had been a Rhode Islander, living under 
the Charter Dynasty, he could not have spoken more 
to our purpose than in the following passage. '' And 
surely, they that shall boast, as we do, to be a free 
nation, and not to have, themselves, the power to 
remove or abolish any governor, either supreme or 
subordinate, with the government itself, upon urgent 
causes, may please their fancy with a ridiculous and 
painted freedom, fit only to cozzen babies, but are, 
indeed, under tyranny and servitude ; as wanting the 
power which is the root and source of all liberty — 
to dispose and economise in the land which God hath 
given them, as masters of family, and of their own 
house and free inheritance, without which natural 
and essential power of a free nation, though bearing^ 
high their heads they can, in due esteem, be thought 
no better than slaves and vassals, born in the tenure 
and occupation of another inheriting lord, whose 
government, though not illegal or intolerable, hangs 
over them like a lordly scourge, not as a free gov- 
ernment, and therefore to be abrogated." 

And again he says ; '' It follows, lastly, since the 
king or magistrate holds his authority of the people, 
both originally and naturally for their good, in the 
first place, and not his own, then may the people, as 
often as they shall judge it for the best, either choose 
him, or reject him, retain him, or depose him, though 
no tyrant, merely by the liberty and right of free- 
born men to be governed as seems to please them- 
best." — Milton^ s Prose Works, vol. 2, p. 171. 

Here, then, the right of abrogation is made the 
very testing principle by which liberty is tried. Nor 
are we " babies," that we should be longer cozzen- 
12* 



138 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

ed with this '' painted freedom ;" but we Avill prove 
ourselves men, capable of resuming and securing our 
natural and "free inheritance." 

Washington, in his Farewell Address, says, " The 
basis of our political systems is the right of the peo- 
ple to make and alter their constitutions of govern- 
ment." Did, Washington mean such people as are 
made at our 'Town-Meeting-Manufactories of men ? 
Did he not rather mean such as God has made, and 
invested Avith dominion over all the earth ? 

Jefferson says; "It is not only the right, but the 
duty, of those now on the stage of action, to change 
the laws and institutions of government, to keep pace 
with the progress of knowledge, the light of science, 
and the amelioration of the condition of society. 
Nothing is to be considered unchangeable, but the 
inherent and inalienable rights of man." 

Harrison says, " The broad foundation upon Avhich 
our constitution rests, is the people. A breath of 
theirs has made, as a breath can unmake, change and 
modify it." — Inaugural Address. 

Rhode Island herself, by her Convention of 1760, 
said, " that the powers of government may be re- 
assumed by the people, whenever it shall become 
necessary to their happiness." The people, then, 
are to be the judge ; for none will be so stupid as to 
believe that it was to be left to the magistrates to 
decide, whether a change would be necessary to the 
people's happiness. 

Madison, in advocating the adoption of the Con- 
stitution of the United States, says, " The first ques- 
tion that offers itself is, whether the general form 
and aspect of the government be strictly republi- 
can 1 It is evident that no other forrrf would be 
reconcilable with the genius of the people of Amer- 
ica, with the fundamental principles of the revolu- 
tion, or with tliat honorable determination which 
animates every votary of freedom, to rest all our po- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 139 

litical experiments on the capacity of mankind for 
self-government." — Federalist, No. 39, j9. 203. 

Hamilton says, '' The fabric of American empire 
ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the 
people. The streams of national power ought to 
flow immediately from that pure original fountain of 
all legitimate authority." — Federalist No. 22, p 
119. 

Judge Wilson says: ''The consequence of the 
sovereignty being vested in themselves, is that the 
people may change their constitutions, whenever^ and 
hoioever, they please. This is a right of which no 
positive institution can deprive them." 

Again the same Judge says ; "Of the right of a 
majority of the whole people to change their govern- 
ment attain, there can be no doubt." — 1 Wilson, 418. 
1 Tucker's Black. Comm. 168, cited 324 p. vol. 1 
Story's Comm.. 

Again he says; ''As to the people, however, in 
whom the sovereign power resides, the case is widely 
difi'erent, and stands upon widely different principles. 
From their authority the Constitution originates ] for 
their safety and felicity it is established. In their 
hands, it is as clay in those of the potter. They 
have a right to mould, preserve, improve, refine and 
finish it as they please." — Works, vol. 1, p. 418. 

The learned Judge then proceeds to overturn the 
modern theory of* Rhode Island, that the doctrme of 
man's inherent rights is an " abstraction,^^ by saying ; 
" These important truths, sir, are far from being 
merely speculative ; we, at this moment, speak, and 
deliberate, under their immediate and benign influ- 
ence. To the operation of these truths, we are to 
ascribe the scene, hitherto unparalleled, which Ame- 
rica now exhibits to the world ; a gentle, a peaceful, 
a voluntary and a deliberate transfer from one con- 
stitution of government to another, (from the Con- 
federation to the Constitution of the United States.) 



140 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

In Other parts of the world the idea of revolution in 
s^overnment, by a mournful and indissoluble associa- 
tion, is connected with the idea of wars, and all the 
calamities attendant on war." 

It seems, then, that Revolution may be peaceful. 
And why was it, but because Rhode Island refused 
to acknowledge the principles of American govern- 
ment, that the proposed change in her institutions 
could not be effected peacefully, as was the intention 
of its movers ? Rhode Island had, in truth, ceased 
to be a Republic ; or this vital principle of Repub- 
lics must have been considered paramount. But to 
proceed with the authority of Wilson. He goes on 
to say, in the same connection ; " But happy expe- 
rience teaches us to view such revolutions in a very 
different light — to consider them as progressive 
steps in improving the knowledge of government, 
and incrsasing the happiness of society and man- 
kind."— WorArs, vol 3, p. 293. 

And again: '' Oft have I viewed with silent plea- 
sure and admiration, the force and prevalence through 
the United States of this principle, that the supreme 
power resides in the people, and that they never part 
with it. It may be called the panacea in politics. If 
the error be in the Legislature, it may be corrected 
by the Constitution ; if in the Constitution, it may 
be corrected by the people. There is a remedy, 
therefore, for every distemper in government, if the 
people be not wanting to themselves. For a people 

WANTING to themselves, THERE IS NO REMEDY." 

[Ibid. 

Again he says ; '^ A proper regard to the original 
and i7ihere7it, and continued power of the society to 
change its Constitution, will prevent mistakes and 
mischiefs of a very different kind. It will prevent 
giddy inconstancy ; it will prevent unthinking rash- 
ness ; it will prevent unmanly langour." — Works, 
vol. 1,;?. 420. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 141 

Justice Iredell, of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, in relation to the difference between the prin- 
ciples of our own government and those of Europe, 
3d vol. Elliott's Debates, says ; " Our government is 
founded on much nobler principles. The people are 
known, with certainty, to have originated in them- 
selves. Tliose in power are their servants and 
agents. And the People, loithout their consent^ may 
remodel the government whenever they think proper, 
not merely because it is oppressively exercised, but 
because they think another form is more conducive 
to their welfare." — Cited, tStoiy^s Coiiim. vol. 1, p. 
326. 

It is not, then, a necessary feature in the right of 
change, that the government be oppressive in its 
character, but if the people be displeased with it, in 
any way, or any degree, they may alter it, so as it 
shall be conformable to their own ideas of right. 

Justice Patterson, of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, says ; " The Constitution is the work 
of the People, themselves, in their original, sovereign, 
and unlimited capacity." And again: ^' A Consti- 
tution is a form of government delineated by the 
mighty hand of the People ;" is " paramount to the 
will of the Legislature," and is liable only " to be 
revoked, or altered, by those who made it." — Dal- 
las' Rep. p. 304. 

Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, 
says ; " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that 
all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- 
piness ; that TO SECURE these rights, governments 
are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed ; that whenever 
any form of government becomes destructive of 
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter, or 
abolish it, and to institute new government, laying 



142 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

its foundation on such principles, and organizing its 
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness." 

Mr. Rawle, a distinguished Commentator on the 
Constitution of the United States, has given us the 
following remarkable passage. "It is not necessary 
that a Constitution should be in writing ; but the 
superior advantages of one reduced to writing, over 
those resulting on traditionary information, or which 
are to be collected from rare acts and proceedings of 
the government, itself, are great and manifest, A 
dependence on the latter is, indeed, destructive of 
one main object of a Constitution, which is to check 
and restrain governors. If the people can only refer 
to the acts and 'proceedings of the government^ to as- 
certain their own rights, it is obvious that, as every 
such act may introduce a new principle, there can 
be no stability in the government. The order of 
things is inverted ; what ought to be the inferior, is 
placed above that which should be the superior ; and 
the legislature is able to alter the Constitution at its 
pleasure." — Rawle on the Constitution, p. 16. 

Luther Martin, Attorney General of Maryland, and 
one of the Delegates to the Convention of 1787, 
says; "Agreeably to the Articles of Confederation, 
entered into in the most solemn manner, (and for the 
observance of which, the States pledged themselves 
in the most solemn manner, to each other ; and 
called upon the Supreme Being, as a witness and 
avenger between them) no alterations are to be made 
in those articles, unless, after they are approved by 
Congress, they are agreed to by the Legislature of 
every State ; but by the resolve of the Convention, 
this Constitution is not to be so ratified, but is to be 
submitted to Conventions chosen by the people ; 
and, if ratified by them, is to be binding." 

Here is to be observed a very interesting and im- 
portant step taken by these new travellers in the 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 143 

great Highway of Human Liberty. They made the 
advance of submitting the subject of their labors, not 
to any intermediate agents or ministers, but to the 
SOVEREIGN POWER itsclf, as cnshrined and vested in 
THE People. 

The Supreme Court of the United States, through 
their Chief Justice, Marshall, say ; '' That the Peo- 
ple have an original right to establish for their future 
government, such principles as, in their opinion, shall 
most conduce to their own happiness, is the basis 

ON WHICH the whole AmERICAN FABRIC HAS BEEN 
ERECTED." 

And does not the denial of that right in Rhode 
Island, show that the will exists, if not the power, 
to subvert, and v/holly to overthrow that fabric ? 

Justice Story, of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, says ; " The understanding is general, if not 
universal, that having been adopted by a majority of 
the people, the Constitution of the State hinds the 
whole commumty, proprio vigore," (by its own in- 
nate power) " and is unalterable, unless by the con- 
sent of a 77iajority of the people, or, at least by the 
qualified votes of the State, in the manner prescribed 
by the Constitution, or otherioise 'provided hy the ma~ 
^ jority. No right exists, in any town, or county, or 
any organised body within the State, short of the 
whole people of the State, to alter, suspend, resist, or 
disown the operations of that Constitution, or to 
withdraw themselves from its jurisdiction. Much 
less is the compact supposed liable to interruption, 
or suspension, or dissolution, at the will of any pri- 
vate citizen upon his own notion of its obligations, 
or of any infringement of them by the constituted 
authorities. The only redress for any such, infringe- 
ments, and the only guaranties of individual rights 
and property, are understood to consist in the peace- 
able appeal to the proper tribunals, constituted by the 
government for such purposes ; if these should fail. 



144 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

by the ultimate appeal to the justice and good sense 
of the majority. And this, according to Mr. Locke, 
is the true sense of the original compact, by which 
every individual has surrendered to the majority of 
the society, the right permanently to control and di- 
rect the operations of the government therein." — Sto- 
ry^ s Comm. vol. 1, p. 305. 

"Vattcl justly observes," says Mr. Rawle, ^'that the 
perfection of a State, and its aptitude to fulfil the 
ends proposed by Society, depends upon its Constitu- 
tion. The first duty to itself is, to form the best 
Constitution possible, and one most suited to its cir- 
cumstances ; and thus it lays the foundation of its 
safety, permanence, and happiness. But the best 
Constitution that can be framed, with the most anx- 
ious deliberation that can be bestowed upon it, may, 
in practice, be found imperfect, and inadequate to 
the true interests of society. Alterations and amend- 
ments then became desirable. The People retains ; 
the People, cannot, perhaps, divest itself of the power 
to make such alterations. A moral power equal to, 
and of the same nature as that which made, can, 
alone, destroy. The laivs of one Legislature may 
he repealed by another Legislature ; and the power 
to repeal them cannot be withheld by the power that 
enacted them. So the People may, on the same 
principle, at any time, alter or abolish, the Constitu- 
tion they have formed. This has been frequently 
and peaceably done by several of these States, since 
1776. If a particular mode of effecting such altera- 
tions has been urged upon, it is most convenient to 
adhere to it ; but it is not exclusively binding.^^ 

Rawle on the Constitution, p. 17. 

The Right of Change was laid down as the very 
corner stone of the Revolution. It occupied a con- 
spicuous place in the Declaration of Independence. 
It was recognised in the Articles of Confederation, 
the Constitution of the United States, and of almost 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 145 

all the States. Let the royal Chartists of Rhode 
Island, and their Advocates abroad, read their own 
State Constitution, and tell me how they can deny 
the right of Revolution, without abandoning the 
principles of free government. They will see, too, 
that the people not only possess the right of Change, 
but the right to effect that change, at such time, and 
in such manner, as the}^ please. 

Articles of Confederation. 
" Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independ- 
ence." 

Constitution of the United Stales. 

" The United States shall guaranty to every State in the Union, 
a republican form of government^ 

"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain n'o^hts, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the peo- 
ple. Tlie powers not dolegated to the United States are reserved 
to the States respectivelij, or to the people." 

Constitution of Maine. 

" All power is inhennt in (lie people. All free governments are 

founded in their authority and instituted tor their benetil. Tliey 

have, therefore, an unalienah'e and ind feasible I'ight to institute 

government, and to alter, p.kform, op^ totally chaixge the 

SAME, WHEN THEIR SAFETY AND HAPPINESS REQU1P..E IT.'* 

Constitution of A'ew Hampshire. 
"All government, of right, emanates from the people, is found- 
ed in consent, and instituted for the general good. VVlienever the 
ends of government are perverted, or public liberty manifestly 
endangered, and all other means of redress are in.?ffpctual, the 
people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new 
government. The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary 
power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good 
and happiness of mankind.^'' 

Constitution of Vermont. 
"The community ha.th an indubitable, unalienable, and inde- 
feasible right to reform or alter g(jvernment, in such manner as 
shall be by that community judged most conducive to ihe public 
weal." 

Constitution of Massachusetts. 
" The end of government is to furnish the individuals who com- 
pose it with the power of enjoying in safety and tranquility their 

13 



146 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

natural rights, and whenever these great objects are not obtained, 
THE PEOPLE HAVE a right to alter the government." 

" The PEOPLE have, at all times, an undeniable right to alter 
their form of government, in such manner as they may think ex- 
pedient" 

Constitution of Pennsijlvania, 

"All power is inherent in the PEOPLE: they have at all 
limes an unalienable and indefeasible right to reform or abolish 
their government in such manner as THEY may think proper." 

Constitution of Delaware. 
" The people may, from time to time, as circumstances require, 
alter their constitution of government." 

Constitution of Maryland. 
" All government originates from the people, and is instituted 
solely for the good of the uhole. The people of this State ought 
to have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal 
government and police thereof." 

Constitution of Virginia. 

"./2 majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalier>a- 
ble, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish government 
in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public 
weal." 

The Constitutions of Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Missis- 
sippi, and Alabama, adopt this noble provision in the Virginia 
Constitution, almost without variation in language, and with none 
in sense. 

Constitution of JVorth Carolina. 
"All political power is derived from the people. The people 
of this State ougiit to have the sole and exclusive right of regu- 
lating the internal government and police thereof." 

Constitution of Ohio. 

" All men are born equally free and independent, and every 

free republican government being founded on their sole authority, 

they have at all times a COMPLETE power to alter, reform or 

abolish their Government, whenever they may deem it necessary.". 

Constitution of Illinois. 
" All men are born equally free and independent. All power 

fnherent in the people, and all free governments are founded 
their authority." 
Constitution of Missouri. 
" The people of this state have the inherent, sole and exclusive i 
right of regulating the internal government and police thereof,! 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 147 

j and of altering and abolishing' their Constitution and form of go- 
! vernment, whenever it may be necessary to their safety or happi- 
ness." 

, Now let the Executive, and Cabinet, and the prin- 
cipal Senators of the United States, examine care- 
fully the bills of rights in their respective State Con- 
stitutions, and also the Constitution of the United 
! States, which they have sworn to obey, and then 
answer, truly, if the Free Suffrage people of Rhode 
Island do not stand before God, and the whole 
world, as free from rebellion, treason, insurrection, 
or domestic violence, as did our Fathers of the 
Revolution, and the framers of all the State Consti- 
tutions ? 

And why, it will be asked — why this long array 
of authorities, in order to establish indisputable 
points of political faith and doctrine ? Alas, for us, 
in this ''free" state! These are no longer indispu- 
table doctrines ! They are positively and absolutely 
denied by the existing government of Rhode Island, 
both in theory and in practice — by word and by 
deed. Let the speeches and writings of the chief 
men among them be examined. Let the history of 
their acts, which furnishes but too elaborate a com^ 
mentary on their principles, be read ; and it will be 
clearly seen that what I say is true — if it reach the 
truth — it does not, indeed, go beyond it. What 
j will Monarchists of the old world say — what Y\^ill 
I Republicans at home say, when they are told that 
here, in Rhode Island — the "freest" of all these 
United States of America — the great and distin- 
guishing doctrines of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, are openly and unblushingly called,* '' theo- 
retical abstractions" — mere "rhetorical flourishes" 
— and that one, at least, among our great men has 

* See Proceedings of the General Assembly and Freeholders' 
Convention, May, 1841. 



148 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

said publicly of the above Instrument, that it had 
^^ done* more hurt than good.^^ Would not the 
Aristocrats of Europe take up the bitter taunt of 
Israel, and cry aloud, in their scorn ; " Art thou, too, 
fallen, Lucifer, son of the morning ?" 

And yet our rulers claim to be '' Jelfersonian 
Democrats ;" and, from time to time, speak and 
write very round periods, and very fine paragraphs, 
about the " Democracip:" which our fathers estab- 
lished, and the RKruBLic of Rhode Island. Is it 
consistent with the honor — with the safety of a 
Republic — that such men should minister at its 
altars ? Degraded and polluted are those altars, with 
the blood of immolated Freedom ! 

Here, let it be distinctly understood, that the 
Suffrage Party sought to eiTect a change m the 
government, peaccahly. They deprecated the idea 
of violence. By rumierous precedents — by the 
authority of able counsellors — they were persuaded 
they could do this ; but they were always willing to 
surrender tJieir powers to the properly-organised 
State Authorities, could anything like equal and just 
action have been obtained. Even at the eleventh 
hour the General Assembly had it in their power to 
conciliate all difficulties, by passing Mr. Atwell's 
Bill, empowering all tax-paying citizens of Rhode 
Island, to vote for Delegates to the Convention, 
which had been called by themselves, for the pur- 
pose of forming a Constitution. A single breath of 
the Assembly might, even then, have blown aside 
all rancor, all bitterness — all party-feeling — and 
the honest and energetic yeomanry and mechanics 
of Rhode Island, would, earnestly, and zealously, 
have co-operated in the great work in which they 
were so deeply interested. 

' Tins iio1)]e sentimont was uttered by one of the Judtres of 
the Supreme Court of illiode Island. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 149 

But when this last repulse was given, they de- 
clared themselves weary of '^ asking for bread, and 
receiving only stones ;" will any person wonder 
that they were so ? They resolved then to put 
their own hands to the work, and they did so right 
manfully. They believed that the question had 
been settled, beyond dispute, that Constitutions of 
Government might be changed by a majority of the 
people, without any appeal to force ; that the fact 
was established by several precedents — the change 
in the General Government — the changes in the 
State Constitutions — and thus authorised — and 
thus established — had come to be considered as a 
fixed principle in the policy of American Government 
— indeed its distinguishing principle. 

But the Chartists refused to acknowledge this 
American principle. They opposed it. They ridi- 
culed it. They undermined it by falsehoods and 
corruptions of the blackest dye. Indeed, the idea 
that non-feeholders — the patient slaves they had 
held in check for more than sixty years, simply by 
the exertion of their "especial grace, certain know- 
ledge, and mere motion" — should consider them- 
selves men, was too good a j-oke to be lost. It was 
really unsafe for an excitable man to dwell upon. 
It was a phenomenon they never expected to see ; 
far better than an ordinary comedy. It was a com- 
plete " farce" — as they often called it. To think 
that these creatures, who were not '' freemen," nor 
even ^' people,^'' should really talk about the rights of 
man ! It was a subject of unmingled astonishment ! 

Certainly, had the non-freeholders of Rhode Island 
been bond-slaves, they could not have been treated 
with more unutterable contempt. Indeed, their 
movements were not regarded as the actions of men. 
It was as if a tribe of monkeys had suddenly risen 
up among us ; and after playing various antics, 

hich were new, indeed, and wonderful to behold — 



w 



13* 



150 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

bad, all at once, claimed to exercise the prerogatives 
of human beings. The demand was, in itself, a 
most langliable absurdity, while the idea of such 
beings having rights was monstrous ! 

And so were met, and so answered, the cries for 
liberty — the demand for right — of three-fifths of 
the People of Rhode Island ; at first with ridicule — 
and then with deep and bitter scorn. Let the whole 
tone and spirit of the writings, speeches, and debates 
of the Chartists, witness that I speak truly, and with- 
out exaggeration. 

Before dismissing this long chapter, I wish to re- 
vert a moment to one or two other objections, which 
have been frequently made by our enemies. The 
first is that man, when he enters society, surrenders 
his natural rights, for others, which are termed social 
rights. During the progress of this controversy, ojie 
of our most distinguished clergymen was so zealous 
in the propagation of this doctrine, that he devoted 
a whole sermon exclusively to its advocacy, taking 
the ground that Man has 7io inJierejit rights — or 
properly no rights at ail ; since if he have them not 
naturally, they must be given — and a gift is of 
favor, or courtesy — and not of right. Would not 
Nicholas give the reverend gentleman a higher salary 
than could be afforded by the society over which he 
presides, as a premium for preaching doctrines so 
consonant with the spirit of his own government? 

But to return to the question. Algernon Sydney 
says.: " The natural liberty of man is to be free from 
any superior power on earth, and not to be under the 
will or legislative power of man ; but to have only 
the law of nature for his rule. The liberty of man 
in society is to be subject to no other legislative 
power, but that established by consent in the com- 
monwealih ; nor under the dominion of any will, or 
restraint of any law, but what that legislature shall 
enact, according to the trust put in it.'' Here is no 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 151 

abrogation of natural rights. There is, on the con- 
trary, an accession of rights in the social state. 

Locke, who pertinaciously clung to the old idea, 
timt man, on entering the social state, must siirren- 
dcr somethings is yet very far from sustaining our 
opponents in the ground assumed ; which is, either 
that man has no natural rights, or surrenders them 
to the community, in the social state. Locke says : 
" A man, as has been proved, cannot subject himself 
to the arbitrary power of another ; and having in a 
state of nature no abitrary power over the life, lib- 
erty, or possessions of another ; but only so much as 
the law of nature gave him, fojr the preservation of 
himself and the rest of mankind ; this is all he doth, 
or can give up to the community, and by it to the 
legislative power ; so that the legislature can have 
no more than this. Their power, in the utmost 
bounds of it, is limited to the public good of the 
society- It is a power that can have no other end 
hut PRESERVATION ,* and, therefore, can never have a 
right to destroy, enslave, or designedly injure the 
subjects." 

By this, I understand, that man, on entering 
society, surrenders only the exertion of so much of 
his own physical, or personal power, as would, in a 
state of nature have been sufficient to enable him to 
sustain, recover, or defend his natural rights, from 
his natural enemies. That is to say, instead of 
going directly to the point, and vindicating, or 
avenging himself, he deposites this privilege in the 
hands of the society ; who, by their laws, will vin- 
dicate, or avenge him ; so that instead of his own 
single force, he becomes master of their combined 
strength. This is properly no surrender, when we 
consider the helpless eondition of one in a state of 
nature ; but only an exchange of the lesser for the 
greater good ^ an acquisition, rather than a loss of 
power. 



152 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

But Locke, as if conscious that his doctrine of 
surrender should be surrendered, goes on to say: 
" The obligations of the law of nature cease not in 
society ; but only, in many cases, are drawn closer, 
and liave by human laws, known penalties annexed 
to them to enforce their observation. Thus the 
Law of Nature stands as an eternal rule, to leg- 
islators, as well as others. The rules that they make 
for other men''s actions, must, as well as their own^ 
be conformable to the Laio of Nature — that is to the 
Will of God of which that is a declaration ; and 
the fundamental law of nature being tlie 'preserva- 
tion of mankind^ no human sanction can be good 
against it.^^ 

The learned PufFendorf, author of many celebrated 
works in History and Jurisprudence, who was born 
in 1631, and became the Historiographer and Coun- 
sellor of the Elector of Brandenberg, says : " One of 
the chief ends of erecting governments, was, that 
the Laws of Nature, upon which the comm.on peace 
of mankind is established, might be obeyed without 
danger." — [Laio of Nature and Nations, Book 8, 
^cc. 2.] 

Again I quote ancient and high authority, that of 
Hugo Grotius, who was, in some degree, the Master 
of Puffendorf, since it was by the perusal of the 
works of the former, that the mind of the latter was, 
perhaps, chiefly influenced. Grotius was born at 
Delft, in Holland, in 1583, and so wonderful Avere 
his powers, that, at sixteen, he was made a Doctor 
of the Laws, and soon after entered into the practice 
of his profession. He successively became Historio- 
grapcr, Advocate General of Holland and Zealand, 
Pensionary of Rotterdam, a member of the States 
General, and Envoy to England. Pie had a strong, 
vigorous, and unprejudiced mind, discriminating 
judgment, and great learning. He says, ^^ In the 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 153 

Law of Nations, the Laio of Nature is included^' — 
included but not anniJiilatcd. 

Mr. Hamilton, speaking of the introduction of 
Bills of Rights nito State Constitutions, says : " It is 
evident, therefore, that according to their primitive 
signification, (abridgments of prerogative in favor of 
privilege,) they have no application to constitutions 
professedly founded upon the power of the people, 
and executed by their immediate representatives and 
servants. Here, in strictness, the people surrender 
nothing; and as they retain every thing, they 
have no need of particular reservations." — Federal- 
ist, No. 83, pp. 463—4. 

One quotation more from the gifted Reviewer of 
Montesquieu. "When men, therefore, unite in soci- 
ety, it is not true, as has been so often said, that they 
sacrifice a part of their liberties to enjoy the rest with 
security ; on the contrary, every one of them ac- 
quires, by association, an increase of power." 

Again, it is frequently said by our opposers, that 
there was no objection to the change, itself, but they 
did not like the Qiianner in which it was brought 
about. In answer to this, I will quote the authority of 
Madison ; who, in reply to certain cavaliers that had 
objected to the Convention that framed the Consti- 
tution of the United States, on the ground of their 
having transcended the powers with which they were 
entrusted, strenuously advocates a disregard of the 
Articles of Confederation ; or, in otlier Avords, that 
the end should not be sacrificed to the means. After 
very ably sustaining this point, he says : 

" In all great changes of established governments, 
forms ought to give way to substances; that a 
rigid adherence, in such cases, to the former, 
would render nominal and nugatory, the transcen- 
dent and special right of the people to ' alter, or 
abolish, their governmeiits, as to them shall seem 



154 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

most likely to effect their safety and happiness;' 
since it is impossible for the people, spontaneously 
and universally, to move in concert towards that 
object ; and it is, therefore, essential that such 
changes be instituted by some informal and unau- 
thorised propositions, made by some patriotic and 
respectable citizen, or citizens. They must have 
recollected that it ivas by this irregular and assumed 
privilege, of proposing to the people plans for their 
safety and happiness, that' the States were first 
united against the danger with which they were 
threatened by their ancient government ; that Com- 
mittees and Congresses were formed for concentrating 
tJieir efforts, and defending their rights ; and that 
Conventions were elected in the several States, for 
establishing the Constitutions under which they are 
noio governed ; nor could it have been forgotten that 
no little, ill-timed scruples, no zeal for adhering to 
ordinary forms, vv^ere any where seen, except in those 
who wished to indulge, under these masks, their 

SECRET ENMITY TO THE SUBSTANCE CONTENDED FOR. 

They must have borne in mind, that, as the plan to 
be framed, and proposed, was to be submitted to 
the people themselves — the disapprobation of this 
supreme authority would destroy it forever ; its 
approbation blot out all antecedent errors and irregu- 
larities /'^ 

It seems, then, that the original Congresses and 
Conventions of the United States, were formed by 
an '■^irregular and assumed pi^ivilege.^' How op- 
posed is this statement to Mr. Durfee's idea, of royal 
colonies, in their crysalis state, winding themselves 
up in their cocoons ; and, in an infinitely small space 
of time, coming out republics ! How contrary to his 
doctrme of "corporations," and "units."' Strange 
tliat sucli great men, and eminent republicans, should 
so signally disagree ! 

Bnt have I not sufficiently established the Right 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 155 

OF Change, as effected by " the mighty hand of the 
people." If I have not, it would seem- that there is 
no platform whereon to rest any prerogative. I shall 
begin to think that all our* inalienable rights are ali- 
enated — as Judge Haile has had the kindness to tell 
us they may be. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

the landholders' constitution. 

It will be remembered that a Petition from Elisha 
Dillingham, and others, to the number of five or six 
hundred, praying for the abrogation of the Charter, 
and an extension of Suffrage, was presented to the 
General Assembly, at its January session, 1841. 
This, and other petitions presented at the same 
time, as has before been stated, • were insultingly 
passed by, without notice, or action. At the same 
session the Smithfield memorial, praying for an 
equalised representation, was also presented ; and 
was acted upon February 6th, by the General Assem- 
bly passing Resolutions, requesting the freemen to 
meet in August, for the purpose of choosing Delegates 
to a Convention, to be holden on the first Monday of 
November, 1841, to form either in whole^ or in part ^ 
a 7iew Constitution for the State. 

* Judge Haile objected that the assertion that all are created 
free and equal, in popular acception, is not strictly true. Life, 
liberty, &c. are inalienable rights. We give up these rights, to 
secure others. — [Proceedings of Freeholders' Convention, Thurs- 
day, November 11. 

There is a smack of "a?iW in that speech, that would suggest 
the idea of birth and parentage in another than jR/iocfe-Island. 



156 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

At this session the question was brought up, and 
discussed, whether the General Assembly had any- 
right, or power, to institute proceedings for the pur- 
pose of remedying, or changing, the Government of 
the State. The opinion that the Assembly had not 
power so to act, without instruction from their con- 
stituents, seemed generally to prevail. Mr. Robbins 
said that here everything came " from the sovereign 
power of the people" — and again, " Here all power 
is in the People, and they are sovereign." But 
what did Mr. Robbins mean by the people ? Why 
the freemen. We shall now see, that the sove- 
reignty which was thus, theoreiically, bestowed 
upon the "people," reverted to themselves. The 
freemen were the creatures of the Assembly. A 
breath of theirs had called them into being. A 
breath could annihilate them. The}^ might be ten 
thousand to-day^ and one thousand to-morrow. The 
Assembly were, according to their own words, then, 
the creators of the sovereignty ; and by their pre- 
rogative of creation, or destruction, held it in com- 
plete check ; so that if there was. or ever had been, 
any sovereignty in the people ; or, as they expressed 
it, the freemen, the General Assembly had usurped 
and controlled the whole. How absurd, then, to 
pretend that they had not power, under the existing 
institutions, to make whatever changes they would. 
The House, as a body, probably held the opinion 
of one of Its members, Mr. Robbins. " There is no 
practical evil shown in our present form ; and we 
should act until it is shown." 

At the June session of the Assembly Mr. Atwell's 
Bill* was proposed to that body, and by them reject- 
ed. This last effort of freedom against despotism, 
was voted down by a majority of fifty-two, against 
ten in favor of the bill. 

♦ See page 65. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. Ip7 

The State Committee of the Suffrage Party had 

ispendecl their Call for a Convention, hoping that 

.)mething might 3^et be gained by their last appeal 

to the sense of justice in the Legislature. But their 

hopes were vain ; and they proceeded to act for 

rliemselves, as above recited. 

The Landholders' Convention met in November^ 
and without having formed a Constitution, adjourned^ 
to ascertain, as they said, the wishes of the people, 
and re-assemble on Monday, Feb. 14th, 1842. 

The result of the popular movement, in the form- 
ing and adoption of a State Constitution, was trans- 
mitted to the Legislature, at the January Session in 
1842, by Mr. Atwell, who had been a member of the 
Suffrage Convention, and was also a member of the 
Legislature. He at the same time introduced an 
Act, reciting the results connected with the adoption 
of the People's Constitution, and requiring the As- 
sembly to yield up its authority to the new govern- 
ment that was to be organised under it. A way was 
provided in this act, by which the Assembly might 
quietly dissolve itself, on the day previous to that 
appointed for the election of the People's officers ; so 
that a provision was wisely made against anarchy, 
and all its mischiefs. But the General Assembly re- 
fused to pass this Act. Mr. Atwell then moved for 
an inquiry into the number of qualified voters, who 
had cast their ballots for the People's Constitution. 
But the Assembly refused to take any such step ; 
they expressed for the doings of the Convention, and 
the People, a supreme contempt ; considering it of 
no importance, whether they were a majority, or a 
minority. 

No reasonable person can doubt, that this refusal 
of the Assembly to make oiiicial inquiry into the 
alleged majority, was a tacit admission of the fact. 
Had they seen any reasonable doubt of its truth, 
they would have been very willing to expose the 
14 



15S WIGHT AND RIGHT. 

flaw to public view. On the contrary, they perceiv- 
ed that It would be incumbent on them, if the truth 
of the majority should be established, to yield their 
allegiance to the sovereign will of the people, and 
pass an Act confirming the Constitution. This was 
a neglect of manifest and positive duty, and was the 
true cause of all the subsequent disorder, sufiering^ 
violence, and wrong. Instead of pursuing any me- 
liorating course, the Assembly, at the same session, 
passed an Act, declaring the People's Constitution to 
be " a usurpation," and its adoption " an assumption 
of the powers of government, a violation of the 
rights of the existing government, and ef the rights 
of the people at large f^ that is to say, 14,000 men 
had violated their own rights, by voting for an in- 
strument Avhich was to secure the rights of all. 

The General Assembly never denied the majority, 
though it was often denied by individuals.* The 
General Assembly did not dare to deny it, oificially ; 
but through their individual members, and their Or- 
gan, the Journal, the most injurious and false opin- 
ions were expressed and circulated. It was repre- 
sented that a very considerable portion, or the larg- 
est portion, of the signers of the People's Constitu- 
tion, were in forts, or coal mines, or in Ireland, or 
round Cape Horn, or convicts, or dead. One might 
have wondered, if he believed the stories, to find a 
single name on tlie record. 

During all the preliminary measures, all meet- 
ings had been called and conducted, according to the 
^ancient usage of the state. Clerks and Moderators 
were appointed, in due form. It has been objected 
■'that tlic Moderators and A^oters were not sworn. In 
Khodc Island, a Moderator is never a sworn otiicer ; 
and Voters are never sworn, unless their vote is clial- 

* They indirectly questioned the majority, by adopting tlic Re- 
port of the hivestigating Co.nmittee, but never querftioned it by 
direct action. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 159 

lenged ; and every challenge that was made, was 
received at the People's Election ; and the vote ex- 
cluded from the court. 

As a strong expression of public opinion, if for 
nothing more, the case demanded investigation. If 
the fact that a majority had so voted were ascertain- 
ed, and made to appear, the question of right in the 
estimation of the Assembly would have been still 
open. If the asserted majority had been established 
as a false assumption, or any serious doubts had been 
raised concerning it, the controversy must have ter- 
minated, or have changed its form. When the Ge- 
neral Assembly refused to examine the claims of the 
opposite party, they admitted their truth ; and, as a 
last refuge, were driven to deny, that the people, 
without their authority, had any right to act in any 
official manner, or to reform the government of the 
State. The Constitution had been thrice ratified ; 
first, by the direct vote of the People ; secondly, by 
the admission of their opponents ; and, lastly, by the 
defeat of the Landholders' Constitution, which had 
been proposed as a substitute. 

Was the course of the Chartists manly ? Was it 
right, thus to continue to dispute, and, by all sub- 
tlety, endeavor to disprove facts, which they utterly 
refused openly to investigate ? It has been said that 
a man who makes charges which he cannot sustain, 
and will not retract, is a liar. 

But admitting that there were a very large num- 
ber of fraudulent votes ; there were still the votes of 
4,927 freemen ; being a majority of nearly 600 of 
all the freemen in the State. Here was no oppor- 
tunity for fraud. Why do not the gentlemen whose 
names were used fraudulently, come forward and de- 
clare the fact ? The ballots are registered. They 
testify for themselves ; and settle the question for 
ever. 

To show what miserable quilbles were resorted 



160 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

to, ill order to disprove the majority, I will give an 
instance of a writer in the Journal, of March Sd, 
1812. The writer quotes the following passage 
from Judge Story. ''In the adoption of no State 
Constitution, has the assent been asked of any but 
the qnalified voters ; and women, and minors, and 
other persons not recognised as voters by existing 
laws, have been studiously excluded. And yet the 
Constitution has been deemed entirely obligatory 
upon them, as well as upon the minority who voted 
against it." From this authority the writer goes on 
to deduce the very important fact, that because the 
voters on the People's Constitution, were not a ma- 
jority of all the men, women, and children in the 
State, they were no majority at all ; and, therefore, 
that the Constitution in question, did not emanate 
from the whole people. Must not that be a hope- 
lessly bad cause, which can admit of defence so weak 
and miserable as this ? 

Two Conventions, as we have seen, were in ses- 
sion at, or nearly at the same time ; but the prmei- 
ples which governed, and the motives which ani- 
mated them, were widely different. The first Con- 
vention was held by Delegates spontaneously chosen 
by the citizens at large ; the second by Delegates 
chosen by the qualified Freeholders, who did not 
amount to more than two-fifths of the people. The 
object of the first was to extend Sulirage, and to 
form a Constitution, upon the principles laid down 
in the Declaration of Independence, which should 
secure to themselves, and their posterity, the precious 
rights of citizenship, which have been long unnatu- 
rally alienated from a large portion of the people of 
Rhode Island, and to the State a Republican form 
of Government. The avowed intention of the other, 
was to remodel the old aristocratic form, which se- 
cured to the minority all the old exclusive privileges. 
To secure the old form unaltered, if possible, or, that 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 161 

not being the case, changed as little as possible. 
Many, if not most of them, have since denied this, 
and declared themselves always friendly to a judi- 
cious extension of suffrage. Their action of the last 
forty years would express a totally different idea ; 
but contradictions do not disturb the serene equa- 
nimity of these great men. 

The known facts in the case, compel us to be- 
lieve that the Chartists only favored any degree of 
reform, so far as they were driven to it, and no far- 
ther. A writer in their Organ, the Journal, of 1841, 
speaks of the Charter in this wise. '• And have *we 
not got on very comfortably? The venerable old 
Charter, (the oldest written Constitution now valid 
in the world,) which has carried us safely through 
the better part of two centuries, is, even now, f worth 
more than half the State Constitutions in existence. 
The great principles of Jcivil and religious liberty 
which it embodies, have now become familiar, and 
are the common platform of every free government." 

And, again, after reciting a long list of excellences, 
the writer continues. '-' The Representation should 
be reformed ; and perhaps, there should be a reor- 
ganization of the judiciary ; hiit let us handle the 
venerable instnunent kindly ; let us not be misled 
by any temporary clamor, nor take steps which we 
may repent, but which we can never retrace. The 
Charter, which stood up, the bulwark of our liber- 
ties before the Revolution, and which the People 
have lived under ever since, ^^^repeatedly refusing to 

* "We, the People?" By no means; but we, the Gov- 
ernment. 

t Worth more than all, undoubtedly to the Government; but 
less than nothincr to the people. 

t The principles of civil liberty, as secured to the " Company,^^ 
are, doubtless, manitold ; but what ri^ht was secured to the peo- 
ple at liirge, I could never find out, unless it was the privilege of 
catching "dubertus and other great fish." 

§ When were the people ever so much as asked, whether the 
14* 



162 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

abrogate it, is not the cumbrous, useless, and absurd 
instrument that we are sometimes told it is. The 
changes of nearly 200 years have, indeed, rendered 
necessary some changes in the application of the 
principles which it contains, but until human nature 
changes, there will be no improvement in the great 
principles of civil and religious liberty, which are 
acknowledged in the Charter of Rhode Island." 

The Landholders' Constitution was laid before 
that portion of the people, who w^ere, by law, per- 
mitted to vote thereon, on the 21st, 22d, and 23d 
days of March, 1842, and was rejected by a majority 
of those voting upon the question — which majority 
was about seven hundred. 

This was the second popular triumph. The Peo- 
ple had not only sustained their own constitution by 
a vast majority, but they had rejected that of their 
opposers. Yet from the fact that so many more had 
voted in favor of the first, than had voted against 
the last, the majority was denied. And this denial 
was busily circulated, at home and abroad, set off by 
circumstances which were fabricated to support it. 

There were many reasons why the vote in favor 
of the People's, should be much greater than that 
against the Landholders' Constitution. I will enu- 
merate some of them. 

Charter should be abrogated? They never avere. By this as- 
sertion, and others of a similar nature, the Chartists have com- 
pletely deceived the people abroad, as well as many even here. 
Upon the strength of these authorities, Ave are frequently told 
that the people of Rhode Island are strongly attached to* their 
ancient government ; that they have repeatedly refused to change 
It. ^But let It be always borne in mind, that only the " legal peo- 
ple, the "corporate people," the freeholders, were recognised 
in Rhode Island as people, and that the very existence of all 
other inhabitants, and citizens, is, politically, annihilated. This 
cannot be too carefully borne in mind; for opinions injurious to 
the btJttrage Party, and their cause, grow out of such mistakes, 
and will continue to do so, until the people of other states become 
acquainted witii our definitions. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 163 

1. They had expressed their opinion in their first 
vote, and there was no occasion for a second rally. 

2. Many were intimidated by threats and proscrip- 
I tions ; others were purchased, and many were de- 
I ceived. The ignorant were carefully instructed in 
; many particulars, which the minority were interest- 
I ed in promulgating. They were told that this Con- 
j stitution was just about the same as the People's ; 
i and if they did not accept it, their lords and masters 
I would be terribly angry, and would not let them 
] have any more making of shoes and coats, nor watch- 
1 ing of nights, nor tending of machinery, nor measur- 
j ing of tape, nor prf aching of sermons, nor lighting 
j of street lamps, to do, at any rate, whatever. These 
i! suggestions were but too successfully employed ; for 
1 the awful frown of the General Assembly, and the 
i disapprohatio?i of Freemen, had not yet lost their 
ij terrors to the bondmen of Rhode Island. 

I 3. The basis of Suffrage in the Landholders' 

I Constitution, was not so broad as that of the Peo- 
i pie's ; so that many who had voted in favor of the 
' last, were not qualified to vote against the first. 

I will now give some of the reasons why they did 
. vote against it. 

1. The Landholders' Constitution contains no of- 
fering of gratitude to the Supreme Being — no ac- 
knowledgment of his power — no allusion to our 
; venerated Ancestors, to whom the spirit of the Lord 

I I was as a pillar of fire, leading them in safety through 
)\ the howling wilderness, and who testified their sense 
"■ of his paternal guidance, in the name which they 

gave to their city of Refuge, when first they knelt 
upon the cold earth, sealing the baptism with min- 
i gled tears of faith, and hope, and joy ; and conse- 
crating all the land to soul-liberty. It is good to 
. remember these things ; but especially is it good to 
I connect them with, any great public act, which in- 
i volves consequences that will be infinite in their 



164 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

extent — through all posterity. The name of Roger 
Williams, so associated with our Bill of Rights, would 
paralyse the impious hand that sought to curtail them, 
and would quicken the true heart, nerve the strong 
hand, and elevate the soul to do, to dare, and to be, 
all that is bound up in that Avord of deep, and fearful, 
and mysterious import — Man. 

2. It does not recognise the Natural Rights of Man, 
nor the Sovereignty of the People, nor the just foun- 
dation of Government in their will. 

It Avas moved by Mr. Dorr, who Avas a member 
of the Landholders' Convention, that tAvo sections 
should be added to the first article, Avhich declar- 
ed ^' certain constitutional rights and principles," 
namely : 

1. " All men are created free and equal, and en- 
dowed by their Creator Avith certain natural, inhe- 
rent, and inalienable rights, among which are life, 
liberty, the acquisition of property, and the pursuit 
of happiness. 

2. '' All political poAver and sovereignty, are, 
origmally vested in, and of right belong to the Peo- 
ple." 

These sections correspond Avith the first and second 
sections of the Declaration of 1790. But the '' greater 
lights" of the Oligarchy objected to the principles, 
as, ''unnecessary, improper, and not strictly true.^^ 
The principles of the Declaration of Independence 
were represented as abstractions, Avhich had nothing 
to do with practice, and no connection Avith fact. 
But, had they no connection Avith the practice of 
our Revolutionary Fathers? Were they mere ab- 
stractionists, Avho spouted forth a theory, merely for 
the purpose of cutting ''rhetorical flourishes," with- 
out supposing any necessary connection betAveen 
that and their subsequent action ? Then were they 
not only fools, but arrant knaves; and it has been 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 165 

left to the acumen of Rhode Island sages to discovsr, 
and publish the fact. 

It was further objected that these principles were 
of no use, whatever, in a Constitution, but to give 
countenance to revolution ; and that all the States 
that had adopted them had subsequently given them 
the lie. The Natural Rights of man were not ac- 
knowledged. The extension of Suffrage was not 
considered a question of rights but merely of expedi- 
ency. The motion of Mr. Dorr was promptly voted 
down ; and the Landholders' were prudently silent 
concerning the Rights of Man. 

3. It was exceedingly unequal in the privileges it 
bestowed upon American citizens,' the Freeholders 
still constituting a favored class ; who were, in many 
cases, allowed to vote taxes, without paying them. 
The privilege of the oldest son was also unnecessa- 
rily continued. 

4. It made an unnecessary, unwise, and unjust 
disthiction, (unknown in any other State of the 
Union,) between naturalised and other citizens ; 
requiring of the former three years residence (in ad- 
dition to the five required by the Law of the United 
States,) and a real estate in the town where they 
should offer to vote. 

Why, let me ask, why was this strange jealousy — 
this unjust, this unreasonable distrust of foreigners, 
which has prevailed too much in Rhode Island ? 
What could they fear by admitting foreigners, pro|> 
erly qualified, to the elective franchise ? Is the fact 
that they have expatriated themselves from their 
own country, whose every growing tendril was en- 
twined with their very heart-strings, because they 
could not longer succumb to the galling yoke, 
or prostitute then' manhood on the altar of des- 
potism, any evidence that they cannot appreciate 
liberty here ? They hear great, perhaps exaggerat- 
ed stories of our freedom, and the advantages ex- 



166 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

tended to emigrants; and they come here, hope- 
winged, as to 

"The land of the brave, the home of the free." 

They come and settle permanently among us ; 
and, by perseverance and industry, they not unfre- 
quently support themselves with credit, and rear 
their children in such manner as to render them 
useful members of society. There is an insidious 
charge often made against foreigners, of poverty, 
and ignorance, and incapacity to understand or ap- 
preciate the blessuigs of liberty ; and, therefore, that 
they are fit only to be made the tools of designing 
politicians. Have we forgotten that the son of poor 
Irish emigrant parents was but lately twice elected 
the head of the nation ? Have we forgotten that 
poor, oppressed, trodden-down Ireland gave us a 
McDonough, and a Barry, to rock the cradle of our 
infant Navy ; a Montgomery to die beneath the 
walls of (iuebec ? That she gave us a Stark, a 
Sullivan, a Jackson, a Jasper, and a Scammel ; a 
Carroll, a Smith, a Taylor, and a Thornton, who 
pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honor, to sustain the Declaration of our Fathers? 
What are McPherson, DeKalb, Gates, Stewart, Lee, 
Pulaski, St. Clair, Hamilton, Baron Stuben, Roch- 
ambeau, Chastellux, DeGrasse, Kosciusko, and La 
Fayette, but the names of foreigners ? They 
icere foreigners ; but they fought for us ; and, had 
it not been for their assistance, our struggle must 
have been incfTectual. And is nothing due to them, 
and, through them, to their fellows-countrymen ? Is 
nothing due to the Freedom for which they fought 
and bicd ? 

Shall we forget the more than Spartan valor — 
the greater than Roman virtue — of the little band 
of Irislimen, who, in the Revolutionary War, left 
then- homes, their happy fireside, and the embraces 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 167 

of their wives and children, for the defence of Phila- 
delphia ? They went with naked feet that left tracks 
of blood along the wintry way. And when Phila- 
delphia, to her everlasting shame, had, of all her ex- 
cecdmg wealth, doled out to her brave defenders, 
and their starving families, a poor five hundred 
dollars, did they attempt to escape from the service 
of their ungrateful adopted country ? No. With 
true Irish hearts they had wedded freedom ; and 
they now refused to divorce her? They left deep 
stains of blood, and dead bodies, to be mute wit- 
nesses of their devotion, and their truth. Lord 
Howe, the British General, hearing of their exceed- 
ing ill-treatment, sent messengers to the poor naked, 
starving Hibernians, to extend to them pardon for 
all past offences — to invite them to return from 
feeding on husks to the feast of fat things, which 
should be provided under the renewed favor of their 
royal master. And how did they receive these mes- 
sengers ? They rejected with scorn the most allur- 
ing promises. They clung to poverty, starvation, 
nakedness, and ingratitude. There was no Judas — 
no Arnold among them. That band of poor, neg- 
lected, hungry, naked, forlorn Irishmen, trampled 
the glittering coin beneath their feet, and told their 
destined purchasers, that Manhood ivas not a coni- 
niodity — it could not be bought. And do we owe 
nothing to Ireland, and to Irishmen, for the sake of 
these ? 

But I doubt the policy, as well as the right, of 
that principle of action, which would prevent " our 
country," from becoming ''everybody's country." 
Lord Bacon, who was a man certainly not inferior 
in wisdom even to our greatest men, says : " By 
those States that have easily and liberally communi- 
cated the rights of citizenship, greatness has been 
most successfully acquired. No commonwealth 
opened its bosom so wide for the reception of new 



168 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

citizens, as the Commonwealth of Rome. The for- 
tune of the Empire was correspondent to the wisdom 
of the Earth. It was their custom to confer the 
right of citizenship in the most speedy manner. I 
mean not only the right of commerce — the right of 
marriage — but the right of Suffrage — and the 
right to the otlices and honors of the republic." — 1 
Ld. Bacon, p. 245. 

Let America, then, still continue to be the ''Nurs- 
ing-Mother of Nations." Let the poor and the op- 
pressed of every clime, flock to her widely-stretching 
arms. She will embrace them warmly, and cherish 
them fondly ; for hex high prerogative is the mater- 
nity of the world. 

5. The irregular and unlimited power of the As- 
sembly over the Judiciary was continued, together 
with a right of jurisdiction in divorces, insolvent pe- 
titions, and other matters, whose settlement belongs 
properly to the courts of law. 

6. It destroyed the majority principle. It was a 
continuance of the old Rotten Borough system. The 
Senate and House of Representatives under it, would 
each, have been chosen by less than one-third of the 
population. 

. 7. It made the Government the master, and not 
the servant of the people, as it should do. 

8. It gave the Legislature power to extend Suf- 
frage for particular purposes, and on conditions not 
recognized by the Constitution. 

9. It vested in the Legislature the pardoning 
power ; and not in the Executive, as it should do. 

In favor of the opinion that this power should be 
vested in the Chief Magistrate, Mr. Hamilton gives 
the following excellent reasons. 

'' Humanity and good policy conspire to dictate, 
that the benign prerogative of pardoning, should be, 
as little as possible, fettered or embarrassed. The 
criminal code of every country partakes so much of 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. • 169 

unnecessary severity, that without an easy access to 
exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt, justice would 
wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel. As 
the sense of responsibility is always strongest in pro- 
portion as it is undivided, it may be inferred, that a 
single man would be most ready to attend to the 
force of those motives, which might plead for a miti- 
gation of the rigor of the law, and least apt to yield 
to considerations which were calculated to shelter a 
fit object of its vengeance. The reflection that the 
fate of a fellow-creature depended on his sole Jiat, 
would, naturally, inspire scrupulousness and caution : 
the dread of being accused of weakness or conni- 
vance, would beget equal circumspection, though of 
a diff*erent kind. On the other hand, as men gene- 
rally derive confidence from their numbers, they 
might often encourage each other in an act of obdu- 
racy, and might be less sensible to the apprehension 
of censure for an injudicious or aftected clemency. 
On these accounts, one man appears to be a more eli- 
gible dispenser of the mercy of government, than a 
body of men." — Federalist, No. TA, p. 402. 

10. Under the pretence of keeping out naturalized 
citizens, the Rotten Borough Constitution revives the 
old practice of qualifying with land on election day ; 
and a door is opened to great frauds. The People's 
Constitution gives to the naturalized citizen who has 
resided the fixed time, his right of suffi'age ; and 
protection from improper influence by securing to 
him the vote hy ballot. The Rotten Borough Con- 
stitution requires of him a real estate of $134; and 
as soon as he gets it he is a voter '' therefrom ;^^ and 
he votes ivithout ballot, without protection. He also 
votes taxes without paying taxes. The employer 
looks round and sees who will take a deed for a day, 
(no previous recording being necessary,) and thus 
extends suffrage at pleasure. He is secure in doing 
this ; for the voter thus qualified can vote only in 
15 



170 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the town where the estate lies; and the privilege 
ceases when he moves away beyond the reach of his 
employer. 

11. It mmecessarily provided for three, if not four 
sessions of the General Assembly, in one year, and 
did not assign the sessions so favorably to other por* 
tions of the State, besides Providence, as did the 
People's. 

12. It contained no just principles of Amendment. 

13. They had established a Constitution, in their 
opinion, legally and rightfully ; and it would be now 
boys' play to exchange it at all, and worse than idle to 
give it up for one which they considered in almost 
all respects inferior. 

And, lastly ; the most cogent reason why they did 
not accept it is, that if that were rejected, they might, 
probably, get a better, even if" they Avere not per- 
mitted to retain their own. 

The above are some of the most weighty reasons 
why the Landholders' Constitution should have been 
defeated, and why it was defeated. To these I will 
subjoin another, for which we are indebted to the 
invention of the Chartists, which is, with them, an 
exceedingly active •— nay, predominating faculty. 
I have no doubt that they have invented more 
" facts" than any other body of men of equal num- 
ber, that could be selected. One would think, in- 
deed, that the mantle of a certain Yankee, whose re- 
markable gift in this particular has rendered his 
name a proverb, magnified and multiplied itself infi- 
nitely, and had fallen upon each of them. What a 
full and lucid exposition of the facts in the case is 
here given ! How concisely, and yet how clearly it 
explains the philosophy of all the struggles, memo- 
rials, and conventions of the people, for the last 
many years ! All the popular movements in opposi- 
tion to the old government, before • recited in this 
volume, were, undoubtedly, made without any mean- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 171 

iiig, or the least practical intention ; but merely, as 
a certain ^Honorable gentleman said, " for the ex- 
pression OF AN OPINION." How excoUent the genius 
of some men is, in their power of disguising the 
plain, naked truth — of making what is obvious and 
simple, appear mysterious ! 

Every force that could be brought to bear in favor 
of this Constitution had been employed by its advo- 
cates. Coercion, persuasion, bribes, threats, false- 
hoods, treachery, family influence, and religious and 
legal authorities. Ministers volunteered sermons, to 
show that man has no natural rights ; and Judges 
volunteered opinions, to prove that the natural peo- 
ple have no political rights ; whence it followed, 
from their joint evidence, that the corporate people 
have ALL the rights, and the great body of the peo- 
ple have NO rights. Lawyers became lecturers, and 
Governors, Ex-Governors, and Senators, poured out 
all their eloquence — and all in vain. The fact 
stood out in bold relief, that the Landholders' Con- 
stitution icas REJECTED. It was, indeed, the most 
stubborn of all facts. It would not bend itself at all, 
nor succumb in the least, even to the '' express will 
and pleasure," which had never before been exerted 
in vain. The General Assembly was stricken aghast ! 
There were sig7is in the times which they could not 
comprehend ! 

* One of our honorable Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, 
after turning traitor to the Suffrage cause, said he voted for the 
People's Constitution, merely as an " expression of opinion.''^ How 
much is it worth ? 



172 MIGHT AND RIGHT, 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE ALGERINE LAWS. 

At an adjourned session of the General Assembly, 
March 30th, Mr. Atwell brought in a Bill on his own 
responsibility, proposing to submit the People's Con- 
stitution to the same body who had voted on the 
Landholders^ — if adopted, it might become the law 
of the land. If rejected, the matter ended. He 
thought it would heal all difficulties. The State 
had been divided on the important question, whether 
the sovereignty was in the people, or in the Legisla- 
ture. The Assembly were asked to submit this Con- 
stitution to the people. It was a mere request to the 
people to vote for, or against, a Constitution. This 
very Assembly, chosen by the Freemen, had author- 
ised a Constitution to be put forth, by a body of men 
as large again, perhaps, as the Freemen. They were 
only asked to do the same thing agoAn. 

Mr. Randolph objected to the Bill, on the ground 
that the sovereignty existed in the Freemen, and not 
in the people at large : that those Avere the legal peo- 
ple ; and no act could be legal or justifiable, unless 
sanctioned by them. He thought it would be an 
imposition to submit this Constitution to the people. 

What can be understood by this, but that the le- 
gality of any measure depended upon the will of 
the General Assembly, and nothing else ? That body 
had all necessary power to qualify others than free- 
holders, to vote on their oicn Constitution ; but they 
iiad no power to provide that the same persons should 
vote on the People's Constitution. Where was the 
foundation of power in the one case, and want of it 
HI tlie other? In the omnipotent will of the Legis- 
lature. Mr. At well's bill was lost by a majority of 
fifty-nine to three. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 173 

Mr. Mathewson introduced a resolution, reciting 
the events connected with the two-fold expression of 
the popular will, and proposing that a committee be 
raised, and instructed "to report to this Assembly, a 
statement of all the important facts connected with 
the formation and rejection of said Constitution ; 
and to report their opinion, whether any legislation 
is necessary on the subject ; and, if any, what." 
The resolution passed unanimously. 

Thursday morning, March 31, Mr. At well asked 
leave to withdraw the resolutions of yesterday, and 
submit the following. " Whereas, a joint committee 
has been appointed by this General Assembly, at the 
present session, among other things, instructed to 
report to this General Assembly, a statement of all 
the important facts connected with the formation 
and rejection of the Constitution, lately rejected by 
the people of this State, in order that the people may 
be accurately informed, as far as practicable, of the 
facts which led to its rejection ; and, whereas, it is 
equally important that the people of this State should 
know, as far as practicable, the whole truth in the 
premises, and should be informed as to the various 
means used to secure its adoption^ as well as rejec-- 
tion ; whereupon, 

Resolved^ That said Committee be further in- 
structed, to inquire, and to report to this General As- 
sembly, what improper means were used, (if any,) 
to influence the people of this State in voting for, or 
against said Constitution, with power to send for 
persons or papers. 

This resolution was laid on the table for the con- 
sideration of the Speaker on a point of order. On 
being called up again, the Speaker decided against 
it, as being the same as that of Mr. Mathewson. 
The motion was lost by a majority of 59 to 7. 

April 1, Mr. Barber from the committee to- whom was referred 
the joint resolution requiring all the facts relating to the rejec- 
15* 



174 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

tion of the late Constitution, and to enquire what legislation is 
now necessary, reported, 

That those opposed to that Constitution, had falsely represented 
this government to be an aristocracy, while in fact it was a demo- 
cracy. That a portion of the state was dissatisfied with the ine- 
quality of representation. 

That the Assembly had ever shown a disposition to encourage 
tiie formation of a Constitution. It recited the attempts of Mr. 
Pearce and Mr. Dorr, at different times, to extend suffrage. It 
further gave an historical account of the action of the Assembly 
for a long period, in relation to a Constitution, and particularly in 
relation to the petitions, debates, and legislation in reference to 
the last Constitution. , 

It characterised the movements of the Suffrage Party, as revo- 
lutionary and illegal, and in disregard of the fundamental laws of 
the State, for 200 years, requiring a freehold to vote. 

The People's Constitution was formed by a minority of the 
people, only 7,000. The unlawful convention acted without law 
and against law. Tliey formed and voted for their Constitution 
illegally, and illegally declared it to be the supreme law. 

The legal convention in a proper manner put forth their Consti- 
tution to the people. 

The history of the subsequent debates and resolutions of the 
assembly were then recited, and the various propositions of Mr. 
Atwell, were adverted to. 

The People's Constitution was considered merely as indicating 
the wishes of the people for an extension of suffrage. 

It was expected that tlie people would have received the Con- 
stitution in the same spirit in which it was offered. But misre- 
presentations were used to defeat that Constitution. 

It commented in severe terms on the motives of the Suffrage 
men, and characterised them as deluded men. 

Tlie report was very lengthy, and closed by directing a pro- 
clamation to be issued, and that the report and proclamation be 
published in all the papers. 

The Committee, it was evident, had only reported 
tiic facts which led to votes against it, and stated 
nothing of efforts made for it. They did not state 
tlie plain reasons that operated against it. They did 
not give the greatest of all objections, that it placed 
the power in the hands of the minority, and that the 
extension of Suflrage was deceptive. They said no-- 
thing of the fact, that the people were told that they 
would not have the privilege of bearing arms under 
the People's Constitution — an argument that was 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 17i> 

frequently and profitably used. They said nothing 
of the great number of Petitions, and the action in 
relation to Suffrage. 

Hazard's insulting Report, in which 2000 Memo- 
rialists, who announced themselves as permanent re- 
sidents of the State, were designated as " aliens,'^ 
as " loose and floating population," and thus stigma- 
tised as liars, was probably one of the conciliatory 
measures of the General Assembly. What must the 
severity of that august body be, if such are its con- 
ciliatory measures ; or what could the people expect 
from them, whose tender mercies are cruel ? 

Mr. Randolph said ; "that Report was able, and 
silenced the agitation for an extension of Suffrage, 
That Report was made soon after the Convention 
had decided, with only 7 votes in opposition, that 
there should be no extension of Siiffrage.^^ 

What a precious confession was that ! and yet, 
what schoolboy would have been so weak as to make 
it ? And that, too, in connection with the debate on 
the Report of the Enquiring Committee. By it Mr. 
Randolph gave the lie to the Committee who pre- 
pared the Report — to the Assembly who adopted it, 
he assumed the lie himself! The Committee said 
the measures of the Assembly had been conciliatory. 
The Assembly adopted that assertion ,* yet the hon- 
orable gentleman showed forth one of their chief 
measures, in the true Rhode .Island Algerine spirit — 
The People's cries for Right were SILENCED ! ! ! 
An almost unanimous Convention had decided that 
there should be NO EXTENSION OF SUF- 
FRAGE ! ! ! 

The Committee never reported that all those Con- 
ventions were exclusive in their character — that 
from them the great body of the People were always 
cast out ; that the People were neither admitted^ nor 
REPRESENTED ,' that tfic Conveutious never acted 
with regard to the Right of the Majority, but only 



176 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

in regard to the Privileges of the Minority ! And 
such only has been the course of action of this 
State. 

Strengthened in audacity by its own conscious 
omnipotence, falsehood had become a familiarly-worn 
and well fitting garment ; the Government of Rhode 
Island stood above question, and beyond censure. 
It felt no obligations to be either just, or true, any 
farther than self-interest swayed. It called itself Re- 
publican. It told the people they were free ; and it 
could no more be questioned for the falsehood that 
was incorporated into its character, than Bacchus 
might be called in question for drunkenness, or 
Jupiter for licentiousness ! It contained within itself 
all the elements of despotism. It was none the bet- 
ter that it had many Favorites, instead of few. It was 
none the better that there were many Despots, instead 
of one. It was only worse ; as a HYDRA is more hi- 
deous and abominable than a one-headed monster ! 
It stood forth to the world a Whited Sepulchre — 
without, goodly and fair to look upon ; but within 
was rottenness — the decaying elements of murdered 
Liberty ! 

In the afternoon, Mr. Keech, of Burrillville, offered 
a Bill providing for the repeal of the present election 
law ; and that the next election of officers be holden 
according to the provisions of the People's" Consti- 
tution. 

Mr. Atwell hoped the Bill would be withdrawn ; 
he did not think it the best means of quieting the 
State. 

Mr. Keech said that the friends of the last Con- 
stitution put the question on the ground, that it was 
a choke between the two Constitutions, and he read 
resolutions passed in the city of Providence, by the 
friends of the Landholders' Constitution, setting forth 
tliat we could not fall back on the Charter, but 
ih:it the question was, whether the Landholders' 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 177 

Constitution should be adopted, or the People's Con- 
stitution carried into effect. 

The Bill was lost, by a majority of 52, against 2. 

Mr. At well called up his Bill to put the People's 
Constitution to the people who voted on the last, to 
be voted on again. 

Mr. A. said this appeared to him to be the best aud 
the only way of settling the question — let this Con- 
stitution go to the people, the only rightful power to 
decide on this question. If it is voted for by a ma- 
jority, it will, on the principles of the Assembly, be 
the law of the land; if rejected, on the principles of 
Suffrage men, it will not be the law. 

There can be no doubt as to the power of the As- 
sembly to do this. The law derives all its force 
from the ratification of the people, no matter who 
proposes it. 

Let us not give the people room to say that we 
fear the authentic will of the people will become the 
law of the land. If adopted it settles the question ; 
if rejected it settles the question. 

There will then be no need of the bill of pains and 
penalties that may cause losses and troubles to many 
of our citizens, and may cause much trouble in the 
State. 

The Bill was lost by a majority of 59 to 3. 

Mr. Burgess, of Providence, then submitted a Bill, 
extending Suffrage to the same extent, as was pro- 
pose*d in the Landholders' Constitution — read, and 
laid on the table for a second reading. 

April 2d, the Act in relation to offences against 
the sovereign power of the State, better known as 
the Algerine Laws, was brought up, and passed, by 
a majority of 60 to 6. Messrs. Atwell, W. S. Bur- 
gess, Gavitt, Keech, Thurston, and Walling, votmg 
against the Bill. I give their names, that so long as 
time lasts, they may be honored as the Rhode Island 



178 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

"Council of Six," who stood up in the strength of 
freedom, and of manhood, against the host of ty- 
rants. 

The following is a copy of the Algerine Laws, and 
of the Resolutions which accompanied them. 

Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor, be requested to 
issue his proclamation to the good people of this State, exhorting 
tliein to give no aid or countenance to those who, in violation of 
tlie law, may attempt to set up a government in opposition to the 
existing government of this State, and calling upon them to sup- 
port the constituted authorities for the preservation of the public 
peace, and the execution of those laws on which the security of 
all depends. 

Resolved, That the report, and the act accompanying, be pub- 
lished m all the newspapers in this state, that 
copies be printed in pamphlet form, and that the Secretary of 
State cause the same to be forthwith distributed in the several 
town of this State and the city of Providence, and that 
copies of the same be sent to the Governors of each State, and a 
copy each to the President, Vice President, members of the Cab- 
inet, Senators and members of the House of Representatives of 
the United States. 

Resolved, Tljat his Excellency be, and he is hereby authorised 
to adopt such measures as in his opinion may be necessary in the 
recess of this legislature, to execute the laws and preserve the 
state from domestic violence, and that he be, and is hereby au- 
thorised to draw on the General Treasurer for such sums as may 
be required for these purposes. 

AjY act ill relation to offences against the Sovereign power of 
this State. 
Whereas, in a free government it is especially necessary that 
the duties of the citizen to the constituted authorities should be 
plainly defined, so that none may confound our regulated Ameri- 
can liberty with unbridled license ; and whereas, certain artful 
and ill-disposed persons, have for some time past, been busy with 
false pretences amongst the good people of this state, and liave 
formed and are now endeavoring to carry through a plan for the 
subversion of our government under assumed forms of law, but in 
plain violation of the first principles of constitutional right, and 
many have been deceived thereby : and whereas this General As- 
Bombly at the same time that it is desirous to awaken the honest 
and well meaning to a sense of their duty, is resolved by all ne- 
cessary means to guard the safety and honor of the state, and 
overlooking what is past, to punish such evil doers in future, in a 
manner due to their oftences : 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 179 

Be it enacted by the General Jlssemhly, asfolloivs : 

Section 1. All town, ward or other meetings of the freemen, 
inliabitants or residents of this state, or of any portion of tlie 
same, for the election of any town, county or state officer or offi- 
cers, called or held in any town, of this state or in the city of 
Providence, except in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, 
and by the freemen by law prescribed, are illeg-al and void : and 
that any person or persons who shall act as moderator or modera- 
tors, warden or wardens, clerk or clerks, in such pretended town, 
ward or other meetings hereafter to be held, or in any name or 
manner receive, record, or certify votes for the election of any 
pretended town, county or state officers, shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and be punished by indictment with a fine not 
exceeding one thousand nor less than five hundred dollars, and 
be imprisoned for the term of six months : Provided however, that 
this act is not intended to apply to cases, in which, by accident or 
mistake, some prescribed form or forms of cnlling town or ward 
meetings of the freemen of the several towns of this State, and 
of the city of Providence, shall be omitted or overlooked. 

Sec. 2. Any person or persons who shall in any manner sig- 
nify that he or they will accept any executive, legislative, judicial 
or ministerial office or offices, by virtue of any such pretended 
election in any such pretended town, ward or other meeting or 
meetings, or shall knowingly suffer or permit his or their name or 
names, to be used as a candidate or candidates therefor, shall be 
adjudged guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor, and be pun- 
ished by indictment in a fine of two thousand dollars, and be im- 
prisoned for the term of one year. 

Sec. 3. If any person or persons, except such as are duly elect- 
ed thereto, according to the laws of this State, shall under pre- 
tended constitution of government for this State, or otherwise, 
assume to exercise any of the Legislative, Executive or ministe- 
rial functions of the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 
Senators, members of the House of Representatives, Secretary 
of State, Attorney General, or General Treasurer of this State, 
or within the territorial limits of the same, as the same are now 
actually held and enjoyed, either separately or collectively, or 
shall assemble for the purpose of exercising any of said func- 
tions, all and every such exercise of, or meeting for the purpose 
of exercising all, any, or either of said functions, shall be deemed 
and taken to be a usurpation of the sovereign power of this State, 
and is hereby declared to be treason against the State, and shall 
be punished by imprisonment during life, and is now by law pre- 
scribed. 

Sec. 4. All offences under this act shall be triable before the 
Supreme Judicial Court only. Any person or persons arrested 
under the same, and also for treason against the State, may be 
imprisoned or held in custody for trial in the jail of such county 



180 MIGHT AND RIGHT., 

of the State as the Judge or Justice issuing the warrant may or- 
der or direct ; and the sheriff or other officer charged with the 
service of sucli warrant, shall, without regard to his precinct, 
have full power and authority to take such person or persons and 
liiin or them to commit to any county jail in this State, which 
may be designated by such Judge or Justice ; and it shall be the 
duty of all sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, town sergeants, constables 
and jailors to govern themselves accordingly. All indictments 
under tliis act, and also all indictments for treason against this 
State, may be preferred and found in any county of this State, 
without regard to the county in which the offence was committed ; 
and the Supreme Judicial Court shall have full power for good 
cause, from time to time, to remove for trial any indictment 
which may be found under this act or for treason against the 
State, to such county of the State, as they sliall deem best for 
the purpose of ensuring a fair trial of the same, and shall upon 
the conviction of any such offender or offenders, have full power 
to order, and from time to alter the place of imprisonment of such 
offender or offenders to such county jail within this State, or to 
t!ie state prison as to them shall s€em best for the safe custody of 
such offender or offenders, any acts, law, or usage to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

Mr. Atwell when called, asked to state his reasons 
for his vote. " He voted against it, because the exi- 
gencies of the State did not require it, and it would 
be certain to disturb the peace of the State. The 
Supreme Court have already said that the acceptance, 
or exercise, of any of these offices, was treason — 
therefore the Act was unnecessary. He had said at 
the June session he ^vas opposed to carryijig any gov- 
ernment into operation hy force — he was ready to 
redeem that pledge. It was because he did not wish 
the government carried into operation by force, that 
he voted against the Bill, as the Bill would produce 
that." 

Mr. Randolph, when called, said that , ^'' he felt it 
was the duty of the Assembly to pass a law to let 

THE PEOPLE AT LARGE KNOW WHAT THE LAW IS ] and 

that THE Assembly are determined to stand by 
THEIR Authority." Probably Mr. R, considered the 
passage of the Algerine Laws as a '^ conciliator if ' 
measure, and that opinion a " conciliatory" opinion ! 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 181 

How benevolent thus to enlighten the ignorance of 
the common people — to " let them know ivhat the 
laio is^^ — and how characteristic was the fact spe- 
cified, that '' the General Assernbly ivould stand by 
their Authority J'' 

The above Act was what the Journal was pleased 
to call a "Paternal warning." Comment is unne- 
cessary. 

Mr. W. S. Burgess, called up his Bill to extend suf- 
frage to the extent named in the last constitution. 

He said that it was admitted that many of 
those in favor of the People's Constitution voted 
against the last, and it is also claimed by the mem- 
bers of this House, that a majority of our constitu- 
ents, the Freeholders, voted for the last Constitution. 
Therefore, the last expression of their opinion is, that 
suffrage should be extended as far as that instrument 
goes. Both parties are in favor of it. Who knows 
what effect that conciliation would have. After the 
strong acts passed, it would show that the house was 
disposed to yield something to a spirit of conciliation. 

This bill Avas the moving cause of considerable 
debate, iii which the friends of Equal Rights strong- 
ly urged the propriety of the measure, alledging that 
there was no doubt, had the Convention confined its 
action to the Extension of Sufirage, that the people 
would have been satisfied, even with the limited ex- 
tension provided in the last Constitution ; but they 
did not want it extended four times as much in one 
part of the State as in the other. They did not want 
their extension in " such had company,''^ as it found 
in the Constitution. 

And, upon the ground that the people had refused 
to bind themselves by a Constitution, which would, 
instead of securing their own liberties, be a guard 
and protection of the Oligarchy, and would forever 
concentrate the power in the hands of the Minority, 
it was urged on the other hand, that the people did 
16 



182 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

not loant an exterision of suffrage ; that they had 
said they loould not have it. It was announced, more- 
over, that since the people " would not have this ex- j 
tension, when the Freemen were loilling to extend it \ 
to them, and to pacify them,''^ they should fall back 
on the old Charter. Mark the lordliness of that ex- 
pression ! Does it sound as if the Government were 
subject, or master? They were wiUing to ^^ paciff 
the people, who were clamorous only for Right ! As 
if they were a company of snarling, hungry dogs, 
and should be satisfied, when their masters, in the 
abundance of their condescension, had been pleased 
to throw them each a bare bone ! 

Such has always been the tone of address, which 
the unenfranchised people of Rhode Island have met 
from the Government. They have never been treat- 
ed as rational and intelligent beings. They have 
never been treated as men. Their respectful peti- 
tions, asking only for the simplest rights of man, 
were met with insult, ridicule, and contempt ; and 
when they arose in their majesty, and, of their own 
will, resolved to be free, they were treated as CRIM- 
INALS ; and a code of special laws was enacted 
against them, which repudiated the Declaration of 
Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the 
Constitution of the United States, twenty-five of the 
State Constitutions, the lives and Fathers of the Re- 
volution, the Revolution itself, the opinions of Eu- 
ropean patriots, the sentiments of ancient sages, and 
the writings and principles of our ablest cotemporary 
statesmen ; and which, indeed, for its open and au- 
dacious violations of right, would have disgraced the 
much-abused State, whose name it bears ! It is 
strange that the people were not driven to despera- 
tion — that they could have been restrained in any- 
wise ! 

But I return to the debates. The Speaker said he 
thought the principal reason which induced the mass 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. I83 

to go against the last Constitution, was because they 
had a Constitution already legally adopted. The 
mass of the Suffrage Party were made to believe 
this. The mass of this party were not judges of 
Constitutional law, and they sought information of 
those who took the lead, to find what was the law ; 
they looked to those legal gentlemen who went with 
them. By those they were led to believe that they 
had this right to form their Government in their 
sovereign capacity. They had the legal opinion of 
high legal gentlemen ; but does that paper show that 
in the opinion of those gentlemen, that Constitution 
was the paramount law of the land ? He believed no 
legal gentleman would say that Constitution was the 
paramount law of Rhode Island, and he did not be- 
lieve any of them thought so, nor does that opinion 
say that, but implies it. 

He could have said in January that a great majo- 
rity of the people were in favor of this extension, but 
he could not now say that. 

Mr. Atwell said the opinion alluded to was the 
opinion given by him in his place under the sanction 
of his oath — and afterwards written out, he had 
never since written anything to show that he deemed 
the People's Constitution was the paramount law — - 
because that depended on the fact whether a major- 
ity of the people voted for that Constitution. 

He had no doubt as to the right of the people to 
form a Constitution in that manner, if a majority 
voted for it. Since that time he had reflected much 
on that point, and was confirmed in that opinion. 
He must admit that the result of the last vote had 
somewhat shaken his opinion as to the majority. 

Nothing could have been more unfortunate than 
this surrender of the ground, by Mr. Atwell. It was 
the first direct blow that the Sufi'rage Party received. 
The admission was made incidentally ; and with 
what motives I cannot pretend to say ; but, consider- 



184 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

ing it in connection with the whole course of Mr. 
At well, I must believe it was never intended to pro- 
duce such an eftect ; nor was it from a pusillanimous, 
and mean desire of forming a convenient stepping- 
stone, or inclined plane, from the Aveaker to the 
stronger party ; from the unpopular, to the popular 
side. It is generally thought that the concession 
was made with the hope of provoking a thorough 
examination, and such I believe to be the fact. 

The House was called, and the bill to extend Suf- 
frage was postponed. Only Messrs. Atwell, Burgess, 
Gavitt and Keech, voting against the postponement. 

Thus we see that no less than three efforts were 
made, at this single session, to conciliate the Gov- 
ernment and quiet the agitation of the State ; name- 
ly, that of Mr. Atwell proposing to submit the Peo- 
ple's Constitution to the same persons who had voted 
on the Landholders' ; that of Sir. Burgess, proposing 
to extend Suffrage as far as it is provided for in the 
same Constitution ; and that of Mr. Keech, proposing 
that the existing election laws should be repealed, 
and the next election should take place, according to 
the provisions of the People's Constitution. These 
were all lost, by the overAvhelming opposition of the 
Assembly ; two of them being voted down by almost 
unanimous votes, and one postponed without action. 

NotAvithstanding these glaring facts, it Avas after- 
wards busily circulated liere, and industriously spread 
abroad, that the people onight have had all they 
asked for ; but they liad always rejected the kind 
overtures of the Assembly, who Avere ever Avilling to 
extend to them the most liberal concessions : that 
they Avere, in short, bent on blood and plunder, and 
Avould be satisfied Avith nothhig else. Hoav Avick- 
edly false those assertions Avere, they Avho fabricated, 
and adopted, and circulated them, should best knoAV, 

The people Avould have accepted of a very limit- 
ed extension of suffrage — they Avould have accepted 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 185 

of almost any terms, rather than have proceeded to 
violence. Had they really been what their enemies 
represented them to be, or otherwise than as they 
were, they certainly wonld have carried their points, 
triumphantly. They embodied almost the entire 
physical force of the State. They had precedents 
in their favor, and all authorities to back them ; and 
they probably would have established their govern- 
ment without spilling a single drop of blood. But 
there were many among them who had conscientious 
scruples against war in any shape ; and there was a 
revulsion of feeling, in almost the entire body, at the 
thought of civil war. They shrunk from it with 
abhorrence. They had neighbors, and friends, and 
near relatives, who would be incorporated in the op- 
posite ranks. They would not incur the remotest 
possibility of severing all those old, and dear, and 
sacred ties ; and quenching those deep and living af- 
fections in blood. And, in this view of the case, 
how much more honorable to them, as men, is de- 
feat, than any success would have been, which 
would have been purchased at the expense of prin- 
ciples, that were cherished more deeply, and dearly, 
than life itself. There were other causes also ; for 
it seemed as if everything conspired to render each 
effort signally unfortunate. But I anticipate. I trust 
this will be made manifest, as I proceed. 

And here let me advert a moment to the grand 
objection that was made to all the Conventions, and 
official acts of the people. It Avas this, that they 
were not called by the Legislature ; and, therefore, 
were illegal. The Assembly had requested, or in- 
vited, the Freemen to assemble themselves in Con- 
vention, and, therefore, they were said to act legally. 
Let us examine this. An official command, to be 
legal, must be binding. There was no law in exist- 
ence, to say that the Freemen should accept that in- 
vitation, or to enforce an annexed penalty, in case of 
16* 



186 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

non-compliance. What, then, gave the mere request 
of the Assembly the force of law ? What is law ? 

The Reviewer of Montesquieu says, " It means a 
rule of action, prescribed by an authority, invested 
with competent power, and a light so to do. This 
idea of law comprehends that of a penalty, conse- 
qent of its infraction, of a tribunal, which determines 
the penalty, and a physical force to put it into exe- 
cution." 

The word, itself, is said to be " derived from li- 
gando, which means tying, or obliging ; because it 
obliges the subjects to its performance.''^ 

'^ Authority," says Godwin, ''in the last of the 
three senses alluded to, is where a man, in issuing 
his precept, does 7iot deliver that which may he ne- 
glected li'ith imjounity ; but his requisition is attend- 
ed with a sanction, and the violation of it will be 
followed with a penalty. This is the species of au- 
thority Avhich properly annexes to the idea of Gov- 
ernment." — Godwin's Enquiry concerning Politi- 
cal Justice, vol. 1, pp. 189-90. 

The idea of pe7ialty is inseparable from that of 
law. What, then, gives such potency to a mere re- 
quest, or invitation, which may be accepted, or not 
accepted, and the neglect of v/hich involves no for- 
feiture, or penalty ? Is the General Assembly an in- 
vestment, or impersonation of the legal spirit, so that 
its mere requests — its simple invitations, have the 
force and virtue of law ? Why, then, were not those 
freemen who neglected to obey th^ call, punished, 
as for wilful misdemeanor ? Will any pretend that 
they were so ; or that they incurred even the slight- 
est penalty by their neglect, or non-attendance? 
Whence, then, the boasted legality of their mea- 
sures, and the anathematised ^'/legality of the peo- 
ple's ? If any person can point it out specifically, I 
should be very happy to perceive it. 

The truth is, the condition of things in Rhode 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 187 

Island had reached that point, which is so well de- 
scribed by one of the ablest political writers, during 
the early days of our confederated Republic. He 
says, '' While men could be persuaded that rights 
appertained *only to a certain class of meii, or that 
government was a thing existing in right of its el J] it 
was not difficult to govern them authoritatively. 
The ignorance in which they were held, and the 
superstition in which they were instructed, furnished 
the means of doing it ; but when the ignorance is 
gone, and the superstition with, it; ivhefi they per- 
ceive the imposition that has been acted upon them ; 
when they reflect that the cultivator, and the manu- 
facturer, are the primary means of all. the wealth 
THAT EXISTS IN THE WORLD, bcyoud wliat iiaturc 
spontaneously produces ; when they begin to feel 
their consequence, by their usefulness, and their 
right, as members of society, it is then no longer 
possible to govern them, as before. The fraud, once 
detected, cannot be again reacted. To attempt it, is 
to provoke derision, or invite destruction." 

And this our Legislators must long since have 
seen, had they not been, to quote the pithy words of 
Milton, "accustomed from the cradle, to use their 
WILL only, as their right hand, their reason always, 
as their left.'^ 

They had sought to drown the voice of Right, by 
trumpeting abroad the sound of great names — not 
the names of the undying great ; for they have al- 
ways been, and always must be, associated with the 
cause of Liberty and Right, not with Oppression, 
and with Wrong ; but names invested with the petty 
popularity, of lordship in this little Kingdom of 
Rhode Island : and they might as well have attempt- 
ed to silence the deep-toned and eternal Thunder, 
with the squeaking of a penny whistle ! It had 

* These opinions are orthodox now, in Rhode Island, and the 
contrary are heterodox. 



188 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

been frequently asserted, and reiterated again and 
attain, by the popular leaders of the Chartists, in the 
presence of thousands, that, if the Landholders' Con- 
stitution should be rejected, lue could nat fall hack 
oil the Charter ; but the People's Constitution must 
become the Law of the land. This was held out as 
an inducement to the friends of Law and Order — 
or, in more appropriate terms, the enemies of free- 
dom, to sustain the Constitution. But when that 
Constitution was rejected, it was announced with 
perfect nonchalance, that we should fall back on the 
Charter ; and it was denied, point blanc, that any 
contrary assertions had been ever made, notwith- 
standing resolutions to that effect, stood recorded in 
fair print, (the print is the only fair thing about it) 
in their organ, the Journal ! 

Directly after the unfortunate admission of Mr. 
^twell, before alluded to, it was gravely announced 
in the Journal, that the gentleman had left his party, 
and had cordially embraced the Chartists ; where- 
upon his course and character were extolled, in a 
manner which must have been very flattering, con- 
sidering the source from whence the fine sayings 
emanated. This was designed as a noose, wherein 
to catch a brave helper ; but the springes that will 
catch hares and woodcocks, the elephant tramples 
under foot without harm or danger. Notwith- 
standing the quite unfortunate issue of this first at- 
tempt, such falsehoods continued to be in circulation 
from time to time. Indeed, there was hardly a well 
known man among the suffrage ranks, who was not, 
at some time, reported as a traitor. These reports 
might have the chance of doing some good, until 
they were corrected. They intimidated the hesitat- 
ing and cautious among the Constitutionists, and 
they gave a momentary opportunity for petty triumph 
to the foes of Freedom. 

Having all the power in their own hands, the 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 189 

Chartists, in their iniquitous schemes, succeeded but 
too well. By the grossest misrepresentations — by 
the most audacious falsehoods, they have so veiled 
and disguised the truth, as to deceive many, even 
here ; for their impudence sustained them, Avhen no- 
thing else could have done it ; — it is so difficult to 
believe that men of the highest standing in society, 
who, though they may have no moral sense in the 
way, will yet compromise their character as men — 
their honor as gentlemen, by stooping to the lowest 
quibbling — the meanest, the most degrading false- 
hoods — and that, too, in the open face of honest 
day-light ! I am aware that many will think I in- 
dulge in uncalled-for severity ; but let them study 
the whole policy of the Charter Dynasty, during the 
last three years, and then give an opinion. 

The Chartists have also engrafted their own views 
of this affair, to a very considerable degree among 
the people of the neighboring States ; so that little 
of the truth, relating to the subject, is known among 
them. They have represented it as a low, degrad- 
ing, mean, miserable aifair, got up exckisively by 
those in the lowest conditions of life ; it was, there- 
fore, vulvar ; and only the vulgar could advocate its 
principles — as only the vulgar had dictated, and 
attempted to carry out its measures. It was, in short, 
the most plebeian question, that ever came betore an 
American public ; and as the love of approbation — 
vanity — is, in the present condition of society, edu- 
cated and developed, to the neglect, if not the utter 
exclusion of higher and nobler principles, it follows 
that whatever is devoid of an imposing aspect — of 
gilded trappings, finds but small share of considera- 
tion and esteem, in the eyes of those who are blind, 
in all other light, but such as is reflected from high 
places. There was nothing in the suffrage move- 
ment, to attract what I should call the vulgar eye, 
It had none of the attributes of earthly dignity, or 



190 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

grandeur. It did not originate in high places, but 
on tlie contrary, emanated from a class of citizens, 
whom it is very genteel and fashionable to despise, 
or to notice only by patronizing attentions. Its great 
and severe principles of truth, had little attraction 
for those who have neither ear, or eye, or heart, ca- 
pable of perceiving a virtue, beyond the approbation 
of the great ; and who would sell their souls, if they 
had any, rather than appear to favor anything not of 
the highest fashion — not perfectly genteel. Such 
were a great proportion of our opposers. Many, 
without doubt, were really honest in their opinions ; 
having become unconsciously warped by the false 
views, and false requirements of society. 

I will conclude this chapter, by giving a quotation 
from a distinguished political writer, which embraces 
some points not generally understood ; and which 
are, nevertheless, the very stamina of political sci- 
ence. 

'•' But the case is wholly different, with respect to 
the institution of civil government, organised on the 
system of Representation. Such a government has 
cognizance of everything^ and of every man, as a 
member of the national society, whethei- he has pro- 
perty, or not ; and, therefore, the principle requires 
that every man, and every kiyid of right, be repre- 
sented, of which the right to acquire and hold pro- 
perty is but one, and that not of the most essential 
kind. The protection of a man's person, is more 
sacred than the protection of his property ; and, be- 
sides this, the faculty of performing any kind of 
work, or services, by which he acquires a livelihood, 
or maintains his family, is of the jiature of property. 
Is is property to him. He has acquired it ; and it is 
as much the object of his protection, as exterior pro- 
perty, possessed without that faculty, can be the ob- 
ject of that protection to another person. 

" In a political view of the case, the strensith and 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 191 

jpermcment security of governmejit, is in proportion 
to THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE interested i?i suppoi^t of it. 
The true policy, therefore, is to interest the whole, 
by an equality of Rights ; for the danger arises 
from ex'clusions. It is possible to exclude men from 
the right of voting ; but it is impossible to exclude 
them from rebelling against that exclusion ; and 
vjhen all other rights are taken aicay, the right of 
rebellion is made perfect." 



CHAPTER XL 



the judges. 



I MUST now go back a short space, in order to notice 
the part which the Honorable Judges of Rhode 
Island took in the contest. They volunteered their 
opinions, as has been before stated, pledging them- 
selves to sustain the Oligarchy, against the known 
will of the People. Their course had the direct and 
mevitable tendency to produce a pre-judgment against 
the people, and to obstruct fair trials, and unbiased 
verdicts, in cases likely to arise out of the contest. 
They forgot that they were robed as judges, to ex- 
pound the law and the Constitution, and not the cra- 
ven tools of a party ; and their ermine was soiled, 
and became leprous, with their base and sordid truck- 
ling to popularity. They, indeed, showed them- 
selves well skilled to 

" Turn their halcyon beaks 
With every gale and vary of their masters, 
As knowing nought, like dogs, but following." 

Before any case had actually arisen, and immedi- 
ately preceding an election, which they knew Avould 



192 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

be warmly contested, they declared that it would be 
lawful lor one party to vote, and unlawful for the 
other party to do so. They exerted all the hifluence 
of their character and station, subjoined to miposing 
authorities, to overawe the people, and silence them 
into submission ; thundering out their official anath- 
emas against man, for clahunig to exercise the sim- 
plest rights of man, with a disregard" of all truth — 
a violence and passion, which would better become 
the ministers of Nicholas, or Mahomed, than'ermin- 
ed judges of an enlightened and free country. 

But I must here give a moment's attention to an 
address '* To the Members of the General Assem- 
bly," from the pen of Judge Pitman. The honora- 
ble Author assumes, in the onset, to be governed by 
no ordinary degree of candor, and to hold party, 
party spirit, and party movements, in singular ab- 
liorrence ; exhibiting in this assumption, a degree of 
effrontery which is quite remarkable, even in Rhode 
Island, considering that he was volunteering his 
opinion, in advance, for the exipress pmyose of 
strengthening a Party ^ and that in manifest viola- 
tion of right. 

With singular ill-judgment he seeks to sustain the 
acts of his Party, by selecting passages from Wash- 
ington's FarcAvell Address, which apply to Rebels — 
the violent and lawless invaders of Right — but 
distort and misapply them though he did, they still 
go for nothing, against the great doctrines which 
have been made the basis of the Suffrage Move- 
ment ; and to the independent assertion of which, 
Washington, liimself, was indebted for all his distin- 
guishing greatness. He was the first successful 
champion of Man's inherent equality — his natural 
capabilty of government, and right to participate in 
that government ; and had he been other than that, 
liad he been governed by the political axioms of mo- 
dern Rhode Island, by the prhiciples which Judge 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 193 

Pitman, himself, was assisting to establish, lie might 
have been a great general, a great hero, a great ty- 
rant, a Napoleon, a Hannibal, a Caesar, but never 
the ideal which the world has recognised in Wash- 
ington. 

In order to render it odions, he takes special pains 
to institute a parallel between the Suffrage Move- 
ment and Shays' Rebellion ; though he must have 
known that there was no other resemblance between 
them, thau that both parties complained of wrongs. 
The specific object of Shays' men, was to over- 
throw the Government, and right themselves by 
force, and the first movement Avas directly towards 
that object. On the contrary, the Sufi'rage Party 
had respectfully petitioned, for more than half a cen- 
tury, for a redress of grievances — for a restoration 
of the rights, which they knew they might justly 
claim. They had long seen themselves deprived of 
citizenship, of manhood, and its dearest prerogatives. 
They were not merely held in complete and invol- 
untary subjection to the ruling powers, but their po- 
litical being was destroyed — their very existence, 
in a legal sense, Avas annihilated ; yet their patience 
was not exhausted. With the forbearance of men, 
in the strength of reason, that holdeth passion in 
subjection to itself, urging always that Truth and 
Right must finally prevail, they bore indignities the 
most degrading, insult the most shameful, until for- 
bearance ceased to be virtue, and long-suffering de- 
generated into meanness. They then threw them- 
selves upon their reserved rights, as human beings, 
and resolved to regain their birthright. They met 
together, and reasoned upon the subject. They be- 
came strengthened in their determination. They 
consulted wise men among the living, and works of 
eminent departed statesmen. All confirmed — all 
strengthened them. They sought not to effect re- 
form by any act of violence ; but by authority of 
17 



194 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the great American principle, which has been repu- 
diated in Rhode Island, that when a people have 
outgrown, or become dissatisfied with their consti- 
tution of government, they may change it, loithout 
an appeal to force, simply by virtue of their inherent 
sovereignty — " the right of free-born men, to be 
governed as seemeth to please them best." It is a 
fact worthy of all admiration, that they were not 
driven, in madness, and sheer desperation, to acts of 
violence. Invention was exhausted in contriving 
abuses — in fabricating slanders foul and monstrous 
— Robbery, Arson, Murder and Rape, were repre- 
sented as their specific objects — and so ivell repre- 
sented, that many weak and deluded people, believed 
they were the most important constituent principles 
of the cause itself. Deluded, and weak, indeed, 
they must have been, to believe such miserably shal- 
low inventions ! But there are Aveak people every- 
where ; and recent events have proved that we have 
our full share in Rhode Island. Then came the Al- 
gerine Laws to goad them on — to make it treasona- 
ble for them, even to meet and consult together, and 
dangerous to utter a free thought ! It is truly the 
most wonderful fact of the age, that they were not 
exasperated into perfect phrensy ! How absurd, 
then — how cruelly false and wicked, to institute 
such a comparison, merely for the purpose of casting 
odium on men, who have, at least, suffered bravely. 

The learned Judge, while he denies the legality 
of the People's proceedings, never qiiestioris the ma- 
jority of their votes. On the contrary, an acknowl- 
edgment of the majority is asserted, or implied, in 
almost every page ; and in the premises of all his 
reasoning, this admission is embraced. This fact is 
worthy of record, and remembrance ; for as the hon- 
orable gentleman echoed the key note of the Party, 
It will show that they did not, at first, question the 
majority. That falsehood remained, as yet, un- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 195 

hatched, and unfledged, amid the countless broods of 
embryo monsters, that afterwards went forth, 

" From the orient to the drooping west, 

# * # * # 

Stuffing the ears of men with false reports." 

In the following passage, he gives his adversary a 
peep into his hand, with strange indiscretion for an 
old gamester. '' If they can deceive some, and over- 
awe others, so as to induce you to abdicate, and suf- 
fer them to seize the reigns of government, their object 
is accomplished. In the absence of any other gov- 
ernment, in this State, they become the government 
de facto, if not de jure ; that is, the government in 
fact, if not of right ; and there will be no rightful 
Legislature, no rightful Executive, to defend this 
State, and the rightful government thereof, from 
domestic violence.' " Strange it is, that the Suf- 
frage men did not profit by this hint, when they had 
the power! 

True to the Rhode Island doctrine, our author, 
everywhere, recognises in the govenime?it, the su- 
preme power. This principle he embodies in the 
following remarkable sentiment: ''No government 
can sanction doctrines which are suicidal, which go 
to its own destruction. The first duty or govern- 
ment IS TO protect itself." The rights and wel- 
fare of the people, it seems, are to be entirely set 
aside ; it being a point of duty with the government, 
whatever may be its character, to " protect itself,'* 
at all hazards, and in defiance of all consequences. 
Who that has seen some of the gentleman's earlier 
sentiments, would not exclaim, in sorrow, 

" O, mighty Caesar, dost thou lie so low !" 

Are the sages of Rhode Island taking a leap back 
into the dark ages, that they so boldly disavow a 
principle which all wise men have taught, that the 
GOOD OF the governed is the END OF Government. 



196 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

Let us hear Plato's opinion on this subject, who says, 
speaking of a good Prince ; '' He neither thinks nor 
commands what may advance his own private inter- 
est, but what may promote the benefit of his sub- 
jects ; and whatever he says, or does, is done for 
their advantage, and for their ornament and grace."' 

Puffendorf, speaking on the same subject. Book 
viii. Sec. 2, says : '' And therefore they (rulers) ought 
to esteem nothing as contributing to their own pri- 
vate or personal good, which is not, at the same time, 
profitable to the commonwealth." How many of 
the Rhode Island princes will come up to this stand- 
ard ? 

Mr. Pitman says, in the same connection ; '^ The 
citizen owes allegiance to the government ; the gov- 
ernment owes protection to the citizen. These du- 
ties, and the rights that grow out of them, are reci- 
procal." He goes on to show, that if the citizen 
makes war upon the government, it is treason ; while 
all the violation of trust on the part of government, 
is resolved into the single point, of abdication of 
ITS POWER ; and this is, he says, a much greater 
crime, if we are to judge of the enormity of crimes 
by their consequences, than the commission of trea- 
son on the part of the citizen. This one crime, then, 
we are led to think — the crime of yielding their 
power to usurpers — is all the crime that govern- 
ments can commit ; and shice it is the very last they 
would be likely to commit, we may safely conclude 
that they never would, or never do commit any ; 
and, therefore, they may continue to exist forever, 
as they will, '-without let or hindrance." 

On the next page our author asks the pithy ques- 
tion ; '' Who are the people of Rhode Island?" and 
from it he deduces the following remarks. '' TlV/r//- 
ever are the rights of the people of Rhode Island, 
those who are not the people of Rhode Island, in 
any legal or constitutional sense, have no legal 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 197 

claims to such rights. An attempt to exercise the 
rights of the people of Rhode Island, hy those ivho 
are ?iot the people of Rhode Island, is an attack upon 
the rights of the people — a crime against the State, 
Such a criine the Atheniayis punished with death." 
Then he proceeds to show that such crime was com- 
mitted, and by implication certainly, that such pun- 
ishment loas deserved by the Suffrage men. " In a 
political sense, in which sense the word ^ people^ is 
used by political writers," continues Mr. Pitman, 
'' it is to be understood as applicable only, in a free 
State, to those who, by its fundamental laws, possess 
the political power. ^^ 

Whether Locke, in the following passage, uses 
the word ''people" "in a political sense," must be 
determined by its spirit ; he certainly, at least, ab- 
solves the unenfranchised from obedience to magis- 
trates whom they have never chosen. " The people 
alone can appoint the form of the Commonwealth, 
which is by constituting the Legislature, and ap- 
pointing in whose hands it shall be. And when the 
people have said we will submit to rules, and be 
governed by laws, made by such men, and in such 
form, nobody else can say other men shall make laws 
for them ; nor can the people he hound hy any laws, 
hut such as are enacted hy those whom they have 
chosen, and authorised to make laws for them.''^ — 
Works, vol. V. p. 423. 

Robert Hall says ; " That there are natural rights, 
or, in other words, a certain liberty which men may 
exercise, independent of permission from society, can 
scarcely be doubted, by those who understand the 
meaning of the terms." 

Once more we call upon our good friend, and 
helper, Algernon Sydney, who says ; " The first in- 
stitution of the office of King, in this nation, was by 
agreement of the people, who chose one to that office 

for the protection of those who chose him, (not to pro- 
17* 



198 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

tect himself, ) and for their better government, accord- 
ing to such laws as they did consent unto." — Dec. 
of Par. Eng. 1648. 

And, again ; " Whilst men are all equal, none will 
yield to any, otherwise than by a general consent. 

This is THE GROUND OF ALL JUST GOVERNMENT ; for 

violence and fraud can create no right ; and the same 
consent gives the form to them all, how much soever 
they may differ in form otherwise." — Vol. 1, p. 294. 

How far these writers would go towards justify- 
ing the honorable gentleman, in his attempt to fasten 
a State crime on the majority of the people of Rhode 
Island ; and how far they would sanction his, and 
his party's absolute political a7i7iihilation of the ma- 
jority of the people, I leave the reader to judge. 

" The charter, by the by," says Mr. P., ^' con- 
tains no provisions on the rights of suffrage, leaving 
the people of this State to regulate this matter for 
themselves. Whatever, therefore, may be our fun- 
damental laws, on the question of suffrage, the peo- 
ple of this state made them for themselves, as they 
had a right to do ; they were not imposed upon them 
by any foreign power." This is not true, in any 
sense. Not even the freemen had any absolute con- 
trol over the laws regulating suffrage, or any other 
laws. They did, to be sure, choose the members of 
the Legislature, but those very members, when 
chosen, had power to make their first act such a one 
as would deprive their constituents forever of the 
power to make other choice — they could disfran- 
chise them at any moment, by making the qualifica- 
tion so high that few could reach it ; and what would 
Mr. Pitman say, then, to a change ? Will any one 
say this is highly improbable? I answer, let him 
study their Acts, Speeches, and Reports, and tell me if 
there is no danger. 

But, again: ''At the Revolution, the people of 
this State did not see fit to change their fundamen- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 199 

tal laws, or to repudiate their charter ; they threw off 
a foreign yoke, but did not make a domestic revohi- 
tion ; having a form of government aheady suffi- 
ciently republican and democratic, and which they 
no doubt venerated as coming from those fathers, 
who had rendered themselves illustrious in the his- 
tory of civil and religious liberty. They found it 
all-sufficient for the exigencies of 1776, and though 
they have frequently been invited since, to adopt a 
written Constitution, tliey have, by their votes, re- 
turned this answer ; ' We are unwilling to change 
our fundamental laws.' " This is false. A majority 
of the people of Rhode Island never established the 
government ; they never consented to its existence ; 
they never refused to change it. On the contrary, 
they have never ceased to entreat of their sovereign 
lords and masters, by the divine right of monarchism, 
that it should he changed ! It is time these stories 
should be contradicted, promptly and positively, for 
they have already done mischief sufficient ! By 
means of them, many, who would be otherwise 
friendly to our cause, are made to believe, through 
their misapprehension of the term, people, that the 
suffrage men might have had their rights long ago, 
but they refused to take them. The truth is, the 
Assembly, themselves, refused to hear the people's 
petition for a change. The freemen, the creatures 
of their own breath, were but as tools in their hands ; 
and through these instruments, the General Assem- 
bly have always refused to change the government ! 
But hear Mr. Pitman again. " What is the griev- 
ance of which the suffrage men complain ? They 
are not allowed to vote ! Are they injured by this — 
are they put out of the protection of the law — are 
their persons and their property in jeopardy ?" I an- 
swer the question directly and plainly, yes. Their 
property is jeopardised. It is voted away in taxes, 
and appropriated loithout their conseJit. I find a few 
facts just now to the point. '' In 1830 there were 



200 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

in the town of North Providence, 779 males over 21 
years of age ; of whom 200 were freeholders, leav- 
ing 579 non-freeholders. In 1832, 66 of the non- 
freeholders were taxed for about $50,000 worth of 
property. The amount of their taxes was $140. 

" In Providence, 65 non-freeholders, alone, have 
paid a tax of $1078; and 361, including the 65, a 
tax of $1,810. In Cumberland, there are 210 tax- 
payers who have no vote ; 280 persons voted at the 
last election in that town. In Warren, there are 136 
freeholders, natives of this state, and 49 resident 
freeholders, natives of other states. In 1833, 79 
non-freeholders were assessed $156,42." And does 
not the' objection that the non-freeholders, if admit- 
ted, will vote away the property of other people, 
come with a very bad grace from those who have 
been so long voting away their property, without so 
much as saying, " By your leave ?" And what secu- 
rity can there be, even for liberty and life, where the 
WILL of the Government is the supreme law ? 

But how degrading are the above inquiries of Mr. 
Pitman, as if men should ask for nothing, wish for 
nothing, but the right to breathe, and the right to 
acquire, and possess, the means of continuing that 
condition ! — Men, whom God, himself, created, 
without permission of the General Assembly of 
Rhode Island, and made sentient, free, and account- 
able beings, with thoughts boundless as the universe, 
with hopes high as heaven, with fears deep as hell, 
with powers which can only be transcended by His 
who gave them ! Can such beings be degraded into 
mere working, and eating, and drinking, and clothes- 
wearing rnacliines, without gross violation of natu- 
ral and moral law ? If parents are to be rendered 
accountable for the evil influences to which they ex- 
pose their children, shall not statesmen, who control* 
and sway the masses, be much more accountable, 
when they willfully place barriers in the way of their 
progress ? What a very diflerent course of action 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 201 

would be suggested, by an enlarged and liberal pol- 
icy. To call forth self-respect — to excite benevo- 
lence — to awaken reverence for all tliat is great, 
and lofty, and true, is a work worthy of '' a minis- 
ter of God," as a good minister of state is well de- 
scribed to be : and the first step towards this, is 
to acknowledge the sovereignty of man^ which is 
nothing but recognising, and doing reverence to the 
GoD-iMAGE in which he was formed. The poorest 
and the lowest man is still a brother, bound to all 
others of his kind by the common wants, weakness, 
greatness, and glory of his race ; and, as such, is en- 
titled to our love ; his interest is our interest ; his 
hopes are our hopes ; his good is our good. The 
mind of the humblest, the most ignorant man, is still 
a direct emanation of Deity ; and, as such, is enti- 
tled to our veneration ; and whatever we do to cramp, 
enervate, or injure it, is sacrilege against the enshrin- 
ed GOD. If these reflections were permitted to sway 
us, how different would be our course of action ! 
Cold selfishness would then quicken into active kind- 
ness. Instead of repeUing an alien, Ave should em- 
brace a brother. The narrow boundaries of clique, 
and caste, and " corporation," would melt, as un- 
natural frost-chains, in the darting beams that radiate 
from the central sun of Love, whose essence and 
whose spirit is Guu. As fast as all opaque obstacles 
are removed, and only transparent media are inter- 
posed, the beams from that life-giving Sun will speed 
forth, unobstructed, to cheer the waste places of hu- 
man being — to gladden and wai'm into fruitfulness, 
the desert and the wilderness — to rouse, and invig- 
orate, and enlighten, the utmost verge of Humanity. 
The true spirit of Liberty, which is but a manifesta- 
tion of Love, would extend and enlarge its influence, 
in continually repeating circles, until Patriotism, 
■itself, shall be bounded only by the boundaries of 
the world ! Are these thoughts idle and imaginary ? 



202 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

On the contrary, I believe them to contain deep and 
fundamental principles. This theory was the ideal 
of the sages of '76. From the sublime height on 
which they stood, their keen eyes penetrated the 
dark and distant Future ; and to the optic view of 
Trutii, chaotic and discordant elements assumed 
shape and order ; until they perceived the whole De- 
sign of God, in all its 'greatness, all its perfection, 
all its unity ; and they planned their first great work, 
as far as they might, so as to form a consistent part 
of the stupendous whole. Until this Ideal is recog- 
nised, and manifested in the Acts of Statesmen, in 
the embodied energies of controlling minds, the me- 
lioration of society will not have begun. There are 
obstacles to this inevitable tendency of human affairs, 
in most countries ; yet even the greatest are, becom- 
ing every day less formidable, for wherever there are 
living, thinking, acting minds, there must be reform, 
there must be progress, and it is a law of nature 
that such minds multiply each other ; but for us 
there is no excuse. Let but the principles embodied 
in the Declaration of Independence, be carried out 
in practice — be carried home^ to every society, and 
every family, and the work is done. Let us then 
rescue this violated instrument from the disrespect 
and abuse into which it has fallen. Let us repel, 
with disgust and horror, the assertion that its great 
doctrines are mere "ethereal abstractions;" and al- 
ways maintain by precept, and by practice, that they 
are vital principles of truth, which are the very sta- 
mina of political ethics. The venerable John Quiricy 
Adams has said, that " The Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was a social compact, by which the whole 
people covenanted with each citizen, and each citi- 
zen with the whole people." It seems, then, that 
even the unenfranchised men of Rhode Island must 
have been party to this compact, and rightful recipi- 
ents, or rather candidates for all it promised; the 



MIGHT AND RIGHT, 203 

Rhode Island definition of '^ People," and Mr. Diir- 
fee's ''unit," to the contrary, notwithstanding. And 
when it is necessary that this should be asserted, is 
not liberty in danger ? Whoever refuses to acknowl- 
edge the absolute truth of these doctrines, which all 
consistently great men throughout the world have 
held as sacred, is unworthy to be called an Ameri- 
can ; and if Americans are not roused to the import- 
ance of this — if they remain much longer false to 
their high trust — open violators of the principles 
which lie at the base of all their institutions, they 
must be denounced as 'political hypocrites^ and their 
name will become a mockery, and a by-Avord, 
through all space, and through all time. 

One point, and I have done with this pamphlet. 
Mr. Pitman says ; '' Their Convention (the People's) 
was so called, and constituted, that no person, other 
than those of their party, could, conscientiously, be 
a member of it. Thus a great majority of those 
who have the deepest interest in the State, could not 
be represented, or have any voice in the formation 
of this Constitution. Such an insult to a free peo- 
ple, is only to be e(^ualled by the ^patience with 
which it has been borne." Now I cannot answer 
for the '' conscience'^ of Mr. Pitman's party ; for that 
has shown itself a very subtle and slippery thing, 
which could no more easily be taken hold of, than a 
living eel could be detained in the hand, as an apt il- 
lustration of stability and inhabitiveness ; but it is riot 
true that the Freeholders could not be represented in 
the People's Convention. It is true that a majority 
of them were represented ; and equally true, that 
those who were not, would not he. 

And now for the pamphlet entitled, '' Charge of 
THE Hon. Chief Justice Durfee, delivered to the 

*The Algerine Laws are a happy instance of the exalted 
" patience" of that party ; and those laws were brewing when 
Mr. Pitman wrote. 



204 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

Grand Jury, at the March term of the Supreme Ju- 
dicial Court at Bristol, Rhode Island, A. D. 1842." 
This charge, the gentleman tells us, is a point of 
duty, which he is not at liberty to forego ; and, as 
lie is so conscientious, we may safely conclude that 
he is honest. He begins by holding forth upon the 
duty of allegiance, and the guilt of treason ; the 
duty, he says, "begins with life — with infancy at 
the mother's breast, and if he continue an inhabitant, 
or citizen of the State, it terminates only with the 
last breath which delivers the spirit over to its final 
account ;" and the crime he describes, as '' one of 
the highest of which a human being can be guilty." 

He then recites the Resolutions of the General As- 
sembly against the Suffrage men, which he follows 
up by this assurance ; " Gentlemen, whatever I shall 
say to you, touching these resolutions, sliall he said 
with the fall and entire concurrence of each wemher 
of this Court ;^^ thus subjoining to his own personal 
and individual opinion, that of the whole court. He 
then proceeds : "I therefore say to you, that, in the 
opinion of this court, such a movement as that de- 
scribed in these resolutions, is a movement which 
can find no justification in law : that if it be a move- 
ment against no law in particular, it is, nevertheless, 
a movement against all law ; that it is not a mere 
movement for a change of rulers, or for a legal re- 
form in the government, but a movement, which, if 
carried to its consequences, will terminate the State 
itself, as one of the States of this Union." It ap- 
pears tome that the gentleman's sense of "duty" 
moved him to make a very strange assertion, in this 
case. Did lie really believe that the tendency of the 
Suffrage Movement was to terminate the existence 
of the State ? For the sake of his character for ve- 
racity and candor, I truly hope so. 

He continues : " When great masses move, they 
move under the influence of excited feelings. When 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 20j5 

the object is to attain some great political good, real, 
or supposed, the excitement takes for its law of ac- 
tion, some ethereal abstraction^ some general theo- 
retic principle^ true, perhaps, in its application to cer- 
tain theoretic conditions of man, but utterly false, in 
its application to man, as he is. This '^ theoretic 
abstraction^''^ is understood to be the doctrine that, 
^' All men are created free and equal ;" for this doc- 
trine was the basis of the Suffrage Movement, as it 
was that of '76. But how a law can be true in the- 
ory, and false in practice, it will take something more 
than a Rhode Island Lawyer, even though he be a 
Judge, to show. What is a theoretic principle, which 
admits of no practical application ? It can be nothmg 
more than a mere ebulition of fancy — a nonentity. 
The gentleman certainly appears to draw his "facts 
from the imagination, and his figures from memo- 
ry," learned as he is. Truth is true, and all 
beside is false ; and there can be no true theory, 
which will not bear the application of practice. 
Has not the gentleman's poetic genius a propen- 
sity to get at the throat of his reason ? Judging 
from the spirit which he manifests, we may safely 
infer that the '■'■ certain theorectic conditions of man," 
to which Mr. Durfee alludes, Avould remain such for- 
ever, for all his exertions to the contrary. 

He continues : " Gentlemen, when all men are an- 
gels, and of the same order, these abstractions may 
be true in all their consequences, but never in their 
application to man as he is." Why did not JefTer- 
son insert a clause like that, to qualify the great as- 
sertion in his Declaration of Independence ? Had he 
lived in Rhode Island, in these days, he would, 
doubtless, have been instructed so to do ; and the 
world would have been spared much useless pother 
and excitement, in regard to those same " ethereal 
abstractions ;" and the Despots of the old world 
18 



206 MIGHT AND BIGHT. 

would never have had occasion to sneer at the pro- 
bable failure of our "lively experiment" — an 
event which Mr. Durfee and his associates, seem 
anxious to anticipate ; since they are so early putting 
their parricidal hands to the corner stone, that by re- 
moving the basis, they may overthrow the whole 
superstructure. Mr. Pitman adopts the same senti- 
ment, page 15. " But it is said that all men have 
an equal right to suffrage. If this be admitted in 
the origin of society, it is not true after governments 
are formed.^^ Perhaps he means by this, that the 
men of '76, who went forth, half starved, and half 
naked, to battle for the common liberty, were thus 
made equal. They were equal daring all the ardu- 
ous labors of the seed-time, but not at the gathering 
in of the harvest. Does the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence teach such a doctrine ? And if it had been 
so understood, would our independence ever have 
been achieved ? 

Bat, to return. Mr. Durfee says ; " As a court, it 
is not only our duty to try offences, when commit- 
ted, but to prevent them, if it can be done, by mak- 
ing the law known." Is not "making the law 
known" to the public, before any offence has been 
committed, the peculiar province of the Legislature ? 
So it has always appeared ; and, further, to make 
the law known to the Grand Jury of a county, to 
aid their inquiries into offences alleged to have been 
committed already ^ the utmost extent of the duty of 
a court. This is certainly transcending the judicial 
boundaries ; but had they gone no further than this, 
it would not have been quite so monstrous a thing. 
But they have not contented themselves with " mak- 
ing the law knoionf on the contrary, they have 
proceeded to pronounce their opinion upon the ap- 
plication of this law, not to any case which had 
arisen, or was likely to arise, but to a supposed case, 
the very supposition of which, threw the preponder- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 207 

ance altogether into the scales of one of the two great 
parties, into which the State was then divided, on 
the subject of a Constitution ; and was calculated to 
render the other party odious, not only in the eyes 
of this State, but of all the other States of the Union. 
It is commonly said among Judges, that " their duty 
is fully discharged, when they decide cases judicially 
brought before them, after hearing all the circum- 
stances of each case, and full argument on both 
sides." Where then is their right to decide capital 
cases which are founded only in the anticipated 
criminal acts of one out of two parties, engaged in a 
heated political strife ? Such decision may aid the 
cause of one of those parties; but the common jus- 
tice must suffer, and the courts be disgraced, wher- 
ever they are made. But these are not the deepest 
stains on our judicial ermine — these are not the 
grossest wrongs, of which our judges have been 
guilty. As if determined to destroy every vestige of 
their dignity, and rend their ermine to fragments, 
they have travelled at large through the State, re- 
peating their premature decisions — lecturing, and 
declaiming, in the most violent and heated manner ; 
appealing to " Heaven, Earth, and Hell," before 
crowded assemblies, cheered by the loud plaudits of 
one party, and saluted by the execrating hisses of the 
other. And when cases of alleged treason did arise, 
where were the uncommitted Judges, where were 
the impartial Juries, to try them ? Tltere were none. 
Mr. Durfee, after quite an elaborate preamble, pro- 
ceeds to define the word State, thus — ^' A State is 
a legally organised people, subsisting as such, from 
generation to generation, without end, giving, through 
the forms of law, the wills of the many, to become 
one sovereign will." How the quality of being endr- 
less, should be a necessary feature in the character 
of a State, I cannot see. There is but one supposa- 
ble thing ^^ without end,'' that is eternity ,* and 



208 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

that has no beginning — a corresponding feature 
which has always been associated with the idea of 
what is endless. If a State is, necessarily, ''with- 
out end," why all this bustle and talk about its com- 
ing to an e7id ? In the very page preceding that con- 
taining his definition, Mr. Durfee says ; " I proceed 
to show the illegality of this movement, and the ruin 
which it portends. I repeat, that however patriotic 
may be the intent, the legal eifect of it is the de- 
struction of the present State, and the construction 
of a new State out of its ruins." Now, how one end- 
less thing can be destroyed, and another endless 
thing constructed upon its ruins, I cannot understand. 
It maybe that as two negatives make an affirmative, 
so two endless conditions of being, produce an end 
of being. 

In immediate connection with his definition, Mr. 
Durfee says ; '' There is, and from the nature of 
things there can be, no sovereign people without 
law ; without that, unity which the law gives them, 
whereby they are enabled to act as one ; and, con- 
sequently, there can be no sovereign will that is not 
expressed through the forms of their corporate exist- 
ence." What does he mean by this ? If every visi- 
ble code and form of law, in any State, should be 
struck out of being in a single moment, would the 
people of that State cease to be a sovereign people ? 
Are laws contained, merely and solely in '' the parch- 
ment on which they are engrossed ?" Does the law 
exist prior to the people who make the law ? Is any 
created thing stronger than the hand which created 
it ? Can any created thing be made paramount to the 
creatmg power? Does he mean that there can be 
no exercise of their sovereignty by the sovereign 
people, without law ? If he means pre-existing larii- 
ten law, -the assertion is utter nonsense ,* but if he 
means the "Law and the Constitution paramount," 
which are written in the nature of every man, and 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 209 

continue to exist consociated with his sovereignty, 
and with which if any written law conflict, it he- 
conies' invalid, that is the true doctrine. It follows, 
of course, that there can be no exercise of their sove- 
reignty by the sovereign people, without calling law 
into existence, as its inevitable consequence ; and, 
therefore, sovereignty makes its own laws, as it acts 

— its action is law — nor can its action be limited 
or restricted, by any legislation, subordinate, inferior 
to, or even on an absolute equality with itself. 

I have already noticed, in a former chapter, the 
gentleman's doctrine of '' Corporations," and ^' units." 
I will here only add, that I think he has misapplied 
terms. His ." unit" appears to be a cypher. 

He attacks and overthrows Mr. Pitman's idea of a 
State de facto^ being recognised by Congress. He 
was far too cunning to admit it. But mark the deep 
and deadly insinuations in the following paragraphs ! 
How are they calculated to excite the already ex- 
cited imagination, conjuring up all dire thoughts — 
all horrible images. And how does he represent the 
Suffrage Party ? Under the symbol of FOUL 
BIRDS AND BEASTS OF PREY ! I make no 
comment ! 

'' Now, gentlemen, what are the consequences ? It 
is well worth while to inquire. We stand upon the 
brink of an awful gulf. We are about to take the 
leap, and we may well feel some anxiety to look 
down into it, and obtain a glimpse of what sort of a 
Tartarus it is, into which we are about to make the 
final plunge. 

"Gentlemen, I will whisper a few questions to 
you, all of which I dare not, for the peace of this 
State, ansioer, even in a ivhisper. There is too 
much combustible material in this wide-spread Union 

— too many daring and reckless adventurers of all 
sorts. Gentlemen, it is the faith of the untutored 

18* 



210 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

savage, that certain birds of the air, and beasts of the 
desert, are endowed with somethnig like a prescience, 
or foreknowledge of the coming banquet, which hu- 
man strife is to provide, and, that some days in anti- 
cipation of the event, they come from all quarters of 
the Heavens, and from all the far depths of the for- 
est, and, congregating in the neighborhood of the 
appointed place, eagerly await the approaching car- 
nage. I do not want to be heard, or understood, by 
such as these. Therefore, will I not answer all the 
questions that I may put, but simply show you that 
there are such questions. 

*' When corporate Rhode Island ceases to exists 
what becomes of her delegation to Congress ? What 
becomes of her bill in Chancery, which she filed, 
claiming through her charter, and through that only, 
a portion of territory within the jurisdictional lines 
of Massachusetts ? I mention this, not for its import- 
ance, but for its illustration, and because in the event 
supposed, the question must necessarily arise, What 
becomes of the public property of all sorts ? Your 
court-houses? Your jails? Your public records? 
Public treasury, bonds and securities of all sorts, 
which belong to the present corporate Rhode Island, 
and to her only, and can pass from her only, by her 
Legislative consent ? What becomes of the actions 
now pending on the dockets of every court in this 
State — bills of indictment for crimes committed, or 
thaf may be committed ? What becomes of your 
State Prison, and your convicts, from the wilful 
murderer, to the petty thief? What becomes of your 
corporations of all sorts ? Of your corporate towns, 
and their records? Nay, are there not questions 
touching life, liberty, and individual property? / 
dare not go farther ; perhaps I have already gone 
too far. But whatever answer may be given to 
these questions, (and answered they must ultimately 
be, in the Supreme Court of the Union,) the bare 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 211 

fact that these questions must be raised^ tried, and 
decided, is sufficient to send a thrill of horror through 
the heart of every man, woman and child in this 
State:' 

If there ever was a " mountain made out of a mole- 
hill," this is it. But, seriously ; it is sufficient dis- 
grace for Rhode Island, that the Chief Justice of her 
Supreme Court, forgetful, at once, of the dignity of 
his station, and the high prerogative of his office, 
should descend from his true place, and, exchanging 
the habit of the Judge for that of a stump orator — 
a common demagogue — prostitute himself as the 
champion of a Party, by adopting the party spirit — 
the party slang — and, thus, by presenting imagi- 
nary evils to view, inflame more and more the heat- 
ed passions, (and those of the most selfish character) 
of his coadjutors. This is truly sufficient disgrace ; 
but it is not the greatest. The mighty in Rhode 
Island — the Lights — the Sages — approved, and 
especially commended, this course of conduct. 

But Mr. Durfee again : '' I therefore say to you, 
and to all others duly qualified, that it will he lawful 
for you to vote on the Constitution noio submitted to 
you by the State'' s Conve?ition ; and that if it be 
adopted, any person in this State commits a breach 
of allegiance who wilfully fails to support it:' What 
occasion was there for this ? To encourage men to 
the polls for the support of one party, by an extra- 
judicial opinion ? How could the Judge foreknow the 
means used for, and the circumstances of the adop- 
tion of that Constitution, which would materially 
modify the duty of supporting it ? But to say that a 
citizen commits a breach of allegience, by not voting 
for a Constitution, whatever it may be, is assuming 
too much for any man ; and, in a Judge, is unwar- 
rantable, inexcusable. 

But, further ; Mr. Durfee says of the Peopk's Con- 
stitution : " Standing, as it does, alone, and without 



212 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

any legal authority to support it, it is not the supreme 
law of this State ; and those who may attempt to carry 
it into effect by force of arms, will, in the opinion of 
this court, commit treason against the State — trea- 
son, perhaps, against the United States — for it will 
be an attempt by the overt act of levying war, to 
subvert a State, which is an integral part of the 
Union ; and to levy war against one State to that 
end, we are apprehensive will amount to the levying 
of war against all." Did not Judge Durfee know, 
that the crime of treason, which he was so eager to 
fasten upon one party, by anticipation, would de- 
pend, in the individual cases, upon circumstances 
which could not come, at least beforehand, to the 
knowledge of the court ; yet which would be neces- 
sary, in order to the formation of a sound judicial 
opinion ? The Judges in this case not only declare 
the law before the offence is make known, but they 
pronounce upon the application of that law, thus 
forestalling at once the prerogatives of both the Le- 
gislature and the Jury. 

Yet these gentlemen, in common with other Rhode 
Island gentlemen of the same political school, talk 
a great deal about republicanism, and democracy. 
Their sincerity may be tested by a very concise and 
laconic definition of Montesquieu. ^' A love of the 
republic in a democracy, is a love of the democracy 
— a love of the democracy is that of equality." 
There is one principle — and a very important one, 
too — that the Chartists of Rhode Island either can- 
not, or will not perceive. It is embodied in the fol- 
lowing quotation. '' It is not a change from the 
PRESENT state, lohzch, pcrliaps corruption or decay 
has introduced, that makes an inroad upon the 
government ; hut the tendency of it to injure or op- 
press the people, and to set up one part, or party, toith 
a distiiiction from, and an unnatural subjection to 
the rest. Whatsoever cannot but be acknowledged 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 213 

to be the advantage to the society will, always, when 
done, justify itself ^ — Locke, vol. v. p. 433. 

Jefferson, in his Inaugural Address, says ; " The 
absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the major- 
ity, is the vital principle of republics, from which is 
no appeal, but to force, the vital principle, and im- 
mediate parent of Despotism." 

Notwithstandmg their extra-judicial opinions 
against the Suffrage Party, our Judges must have 
known that both their doctrines and their action had 
been sanctioned by Congress in the case of Michi- 
gan, when the people of that State, acting in their 
original and sovereign capacity, without the consent 
of the Legislature, and even in opposition to its in- 
terposed authority, adopted the Constitution on 
which it was received into the Union. This is de- 
nied by Judge Durfee, on the ground that Michigan 
was a Territory. But Michigan had a government 
which was quite as near to the '^/on/i" which the 
United States' Constitution guarantees, as the Char- 
ter Government of Rhode Island ; yet this govern- 
ment was defended by the Legislature, and subvert- 
ed by the people, in defiance of their authority ; and 
Congress put the great national seal on the people's 
right. In North Carolina, also the same doctrine was 
appealed to by the people in the western part of that 
state, who were about to put it in practice, when the 
other party who had actual possession of the gov- 
ernment, gave way. 

" The lust 
Of power, which oft-times took the fairer name 
Of liberty, and hung the popular Jlag 
Of freedom out,''' 

has wrought its full proportion of mischief m Rhode 
Island ; and with this remark I close the chapter, 
which is already too long, unless it had a better sub- 
ject. 



214 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE TWO ELECTIONS. 

Pursuant to the Resolution which had passed the 
General Assembly on Monday, March 28, Governor 
King issued a Proclamation, on Monday, April 4, 
calhng upon all persons who had been engaged, or 
concerned in, attempts to carry the People's Consti- 
tution into effect, " to cease all further proceedings 
therein, as thf^y will answer the contrary at their 
peril;" and requiring all ''Judges, Justices of the 
Peace, Sheriffs, Deputy Sheriffs, and Constables, and 
all Military Officers, within their respective depart- 
ments, and according to their several functions, to be 
vigilant and firm in detecting, and bringing to con- 
dign punishment, all persons engaged or concerned 
in such enterprise." In obedience to this Proclama- 
tion, the Adjutant General issued his orders to the 
Commanders of the several Military Companies, 
" to assemble the men under their command, and di- 
rect them to be in readiness at thirty minutes warn- 
ing, armed and equipped ;" and also an order to all 
such officers, to report immediately after the requir- 
ed meeting, '' the number of the rank and file under 
their command, with a statement of their arms and 
equipments." 

It has been frequently asserted, and is, I think, 
pretty generally believed, that the Suffrage Party 
made the first Appeal to Force. This is utterly false. 
They never wholly relinquished their hope of aid 
through the Legislature, until that Body, by refusing 
them the right to be represented, in the Convention 
which had been called, for the purpose of forming a 
State Constitution, finally closed the door against 
them. Then, and then only, they assumed the right, 
and the authority of the Sovereign People. But 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 215 

they did not believe, that when they had formed a 
Constitution according to all American forms and 
usage, and adopted the same by a vast majority, that 
their fellow citizens would be arrayed in arms 
against them, to compel them, at the point of the 
bayonet, to surrender at once their rights and their 
liberties. They would not believe this until on the 
1st of April, when, having met at the Town House, 
news arrived there, that the ARSENAL WAS 
GARRISONED ! ! ! Consternation and horror thrill- 
ed through the immense Assembly gathered there, 
as through one heart ! and not until then did they 
pass Resolutions of self-defence, and to call upon 
help from abroad. Similar meetings were held 
throughout the St^te, passing Resolutions to defend 
the Constitution to the fltmost, and condemning the 
Algerine Laws, which had been emphatically made, 
" without law, and against law," since they not only 
violated the law -paramount — the Law of Right, but 
important portions of the written law. By this odi- 
ous Act, is a Sheriff permitted to act '' without re- 
gard to his precinct ;" and a Magistrate is allowed to 
imprison an offender in the jail of any county in the 
State, against Sec. 62, of the Criminal Law of Rhode 
Island, which provides that "all persons sentenced 
to imprisonment, shall be imprisoned in the commoii 
jail of the county in which the offence ■shall he com- 
mitted.^^ The accused may also be tried in any 
other county than that in which he lives, or the of- 
fence is alleged to have been committed, contrary to 
the provision of Sec. 60 of the same Digest, that 
" persons accused of any crime shall be proceeded 
against, either in the Supreme Judicial Court, or the 
Court of General Sessions of the county loherein the 
crirne or a^imes charged^ may he committed.^'' This 
was designed to harrass all those who might dare 
assert their rights — to oppress the poor by needless 
expenses — to separate them from their families, and 



216 MIGHT AKD RIGHT. 

to obstruct them in the means of making a defence. 
Can a precedent be produced from the British laws, 
or those of any other State of this Union, where the 
jurisdiction of a SheritF has been extended beyond 
the county for wliich he is appointed ? The alleged 
offender against the law has a right to demand a trial 
"by twelve free and lawful men, of the body of his 
county^ by whom the truth of the matter may be 
better known ? " How, then, can these violations of 
the law, be valid against the peace and security of 
the people — against the supreme will of the Peo- 
ple — which will IS law ? Upon what principle was 
that portion of the Law founded, which declared all 
meetings of the people for the purpose of discussing 
their rights, to be riotous, and subjected all who at- 
tended such meetings to t^ie danger of being shot 
down, should they not retire sufficiently soon after 
the riot act might be read ? Yonder, across the At- 
lantic, is Ireland, in behalf of which we have felt 
much sympathy ; yet Repeal Meetings, for the avow- 
ed purpose of dissolving the Empire, are there held, 
daily and nightly, in the face of the hireling sol- 
diery of England ; yet England has not a riot act, to 
drive the barbed heel quite through the prostrate 
neck of her sister kingdom ; but here, in Republican 
America — in Republican Rhode Island — citizens 
may be shot down for asserting the principles of the 
Declaration of Independence ! ! If this is Republi- 
canism, who would be a Republican ? Is it strange 
that the people in sheer pride should rise against 
these things ; and if there was a single principle of 
manhood in them, that it should have been aroused, 
to defy powers so unwarrantable, so unjust, so mon- 
stroiis ! 

The next step of the Charter Government, was to 
despatcli Commissioners to Washington, to solicit aid 
from the General Government. This deputation, 
consisting of Messrs. Whipple, Francis, and Potter, 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 217 

entirely misrepresented the whole matter. They 
pretended that domestic violence was apprehended ; 
and, by implication, that force had already been ex- 
erted by the Suffrage Party ; whereas, they knew 
that their own party were organising to put down 
the people by force. They sought to inflame the 
strongest prejudice of representatives of that and 
other influential sections of the country, by asserting 
that under the People's Constitution, persons were 
allowed to vote without any regard to color, although 
they knew that by an express provision of that Con- 
stitution, colored people ivere fiat alloioed to vote. 
These misstatements were repeated, and reiterated, by 
James F. Simmons, Senator from Rhode Island, 
then in Washington, who whispered them insidiously 
through the American Court, and embodied them in 
an Appeal to the South. The Free Suffrage move- 
ment was represented as being one with the Aboli- 
tion movement. It was, truly, an Abolition move- 
ment"; but it had for its sole object the deliverance 
from political thraldom, of the white slaves of Rhode 
Island ; and this both the Commissioners and Mr. 
Simmons very well knew. 

They represent that the Legislature were influ- 
enced by the petitions of the people, at their January 
session in 1841, to request the qualified voters to 
choose Delegates for a Convention, to frame a writ- 
ten Constitution. But they omit two important facts ; 
one is, that the Legislature took no notice of these 
petitions ; and the other is, that the " request" con- 
fined all the action on the proposed Constitution, to 
the Freemen and their eldest sons. Another import- 
ant misrepresentation is, that immediately after the 
above request was issued by the Legislature, the 
. Suffrage Party took measures to countervail those of 
the Assembly — but they neglect to tell him, that 
the State Committee took no steps towards forming 
a Convention, but patiently awaited the result of an 
19 



218 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

application, which they expected would be made at 
the June session, for such an extension of suffrage, as 
would admit others than Freemen and their eldest 
sons, to vote for Delegates to the proposed Conven- 
tion. They forget, also, that this application was 
made by a member of the Legislature, and an emi- 
nent friend of the People, and was rejected by an 
overwhelming majority. They state not that the 
Legislature refused all propositions to extend suffrage, 
until after the People's Constitution was adopted and 
proclaimed ; and then extended it only for a particu- 
lar purpose — for a single occasion — to vote for the 
Landholders' Constitution. They state that all 
males over 21 years of age, were admitted to vote 
for the adoption of the People's Constitution. This 
was not true. None were intentionally admitted to 
vote by the People's Moderators, except American 
citizens who had their permanent residence, or home, 
in the State, and were of lawful age. They state 
that these meetings were not under presiding officers, 
whose legal duty, or legal right, it was to interpose 
any check, or restraint, as to age, residence, property, 
or color ; but they must have known that those Mo- 
derators were responsible men, acting under the 
highly respected authority of the People's Conven- 
tion, and that they interposed the check of requiring 
every voter to subscribe to the fact of his permanent 
residence, as well as his age, printed on his votu ; 
and the further check of inquiring either of himself, 
or of the by-standers, when they had occasion to 
doubt the fact. The Moderators were, truly, not 
sworn ; but they never are, in Rhode Island. They 
do not directly deny that a majority of the 22,000 
people of the State voted for tlie People's Constitu- 
tion ; but a denial of this is inferred from the result 
of the vote upon the Landholders' Constitution. 
They admit that 8,600 votes were cast against that 
Constitution, and from these they deduct 1000, 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 219 

which they say were cast by friends of the Charter ; 
but how did they ascertain that ? and thus having 
reduced the votes of the People against the Land- 
holders' Constitution to 7,600, they take it for grant- 
ed that this was the full number that could have 
been cast for the People's Constitution. The rea- 
sons of this difference have been given in a former 
chapter. I shall not, therefore, repeat them. But 
where, I would ask, did the gentlemen get their au- 
thority for supposing that a negative condition could 
nullify a positive act? -From what authority did 
they learn that a principle erected on such a basis, 
might be taken for truth, without question, and 
acted upon as truth, to the injury of a large body of 
men ? Had they shown a little more candor — had 
they made fewer misstatements, and honestly told 
the whole truth of the matter, they might, it is true, 
have made a less brilliant figure as diplomatists, but 
their conduct would have been infinitely more honor- 
able to them, as men. 

Upon the receipt of the Adjutant General's orders 
by the Militia, it was found that a large majority of 
them were unwilling to meet the order, by holding 
themselves in requisition by the Government, to be 
drawn out at thirty minutes warning, to assist in 
crushing the liberties of the people of Rhode Island, 
of which their own were a part. There was a large 
number of gay young men, who had joined the se- 
veral independent companies of Providence, merely 
for the purpose of going upon excursions, attending 
the convivial meetings of the company, and enjoy- 
ing themselves. The terms of their admission had 
been merely the payment of a fine — hence they 
were called Fine-members. These members had 
never had any control over the affairs of the society ; 
but when the Algerine officers saw that the majority 
were going against them, they called in the Fine- 
members ; and through them, in addition to persua- 



220 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

sion, threats, and artifice, they succeeded in gaining 
over to the side of the Government (so called) a ma- 
jority of the forces. 

I should have said that Doctor Brown, President 
of the Suffrage Association, had been sent to Wash- 
ington, in order to represent there the claims of his 
party ; where he arrived before the Charter Delega- 
tion. He called on a large number of the members 
of both Houses ; and they pronounced the doings of 
the Legislature " of no binding effect, whatever," 
but '' entirely at variance with Right, Reason, and 
Constitutional Law." He was well received by the 
President, who told him that Mr. Whipple had called 
on him the night before, and said that everythmg, 
black, white, and gray, voted for the People's Con- 
stitution, and that without law or order ; and that 
both Constitutions amounted to one and the same 
thing. The President required a statement of the 
past and present doings of the Suftrage Party, which 
Dr. Brown made out, and presented. In the mean 
time he wrote home, in high hope. I quote the con- 
clusion of his letter — which, being from a promi- 
nent and influential person, will go far to show that 
even up to this time, the hope and trust of the peo- 
ple, was in right, and 7iot in force. 

'' Permit me to urge upon the people, the necessity 
of using every exertion to preserve order and quiet in 
the community. Provoke not ill feeling ; but stand 
firm and unwavering. We have nothing to fear. 
The God of our Fathers is with us. The sovereignty 
of the People will be established. 

"11 o'clock, P. M. I have just returned from a 
visit to the President, and one thing is certain, the 
President and the Cabinet will never send an armed 
force to Rhode Island, or in any other way attempt 
to prevent the people from obtaining their just rights. 
There will be no attempt to put the Law of the Ge- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 221 

neral Assembly in force, and the people can go on 
without fear or molestation." 

\ And again, from on board the steamboat — Dela- 
ware River, Sunday, 2 o'clock, P. M., he writes ; 
" The President talks in strong terms of the doings 
of the General Assembly, and. says that the Law 
(Algerine Act) was uncalled for. He will write to 
Gov. King this week ; but, depend upon it, he will 
give no encouragement of interfering with the affairs 
of Rhode Island." 

On the 14th day of April, Gov. King issued a pro- 
clamation, announcing that he had received a letter 
from the President ; and immediately thereupon, the 
Letter of John Tyler was made known to the people. 

In the first paragraph Mr. Tyler says : 

"I shall not adventure the expression of an opinion upon those 
questions of domestic policy, which seem to have given rise to 
the unfortunate controversies between a portion of the citizens 
and the existing Government of the State. They are questions 
of Municipal regulation, the adjustment of which belongs exclu- 
sively to the people of Rhode Island, and with which this govern- 
ment can have nothing to do.'* 

But did he not express an opinion by assuming 
that the Charter Government was ''the existing 
government?" Did he not know that the questions 
had been adjusted by the People of Rhode Island ? 
He knew that the General Government had some- 
thing to do with it, and that the people of Rhode 
Island had a right to claim, by the Constitution of 
the United States, that a Republican Government 
should be erected over them ! These facts, even the 
sophistry and misrepresentations of the Commission- 
ers could not have concealed. The people had done 
all they could do, peaceably. They had resisted the 
strongest provocations to violence. They had seen 
themselves denounced as malefactors, and made the 
subjects of the most cruel and odious laws. Strong 
in the faith of the great American principle, and that 
19* 



222 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the Government of the United States would, and 
fnust vindicate it, they went eagerly on with their 
work ; and when they had finished it, they sent an 
agent to Washington^ to demand the redemption of 
the National pledge ; yet, strange to say, the Presi- 
dent and his Cabinet, together with the whole Whig 
press, boldly denied the principle, but for which, 
these United States must have been now British Co- 
lones, and stigmatised the men as TRAITORS, who 
had dared to assert it ! This is no trifle. I ask if 
such men, and such a press, should bear sway in a 
Republican government ; or if a government caii be 
Republican, where they are permitted to bear sway '? 
After reciting the 4th Section of the 4th Article of 
the Constitution of the United States, and portions 
of the Act of Congress approved February 28th, 
1795, also a portion of the Act of March 3d, 1807, 
Mr. Tyler says : 

" By a careful consicleration of the above recited acts of Con- 
gress, your Excellency will not fail to see, that no power is vest- 
ed in the Executive of the United States, to anticipate insurrec- 
tionary movements ag-ainst the Government of Rhode Island, so 
as to sanction the interposition of the military authority, but that 
there must be an actual insurrection manifested by lawless as- 
semblages of tne people or otherwise, to whom a proclamation 
jjiay be addressed, and who may be required to betake themselves 
to their respective abodes. I have, however, to assure your Ex- 
cellency, that should the time arrive, and my fervent prayer is 
that it may never come, when an insurrection shall exist against 
the Government of Rhode Island, and a requisition shall be made 
upon the- Executive of the United States to furnish that protec- 
tion which is guaranteed to each State by the Constitution and 
laws, I shall not be found to shrink from the performance of a 
duty, which, while it would be the most painful, is at the same 
thne the most imperative. I have also to say, that in such a con- 
tingency, the Executive could not look into real or supposed de- 
fects of the existing goverument, in order to ascertain whether 
some other plan of government proposed for adoption, was better 
suited to the wants, and more in accordance with the wishes of 
any portion of her citizens. To throw the Executive power of 
this Government into any such controversy, would be to make 
the Presid-nt the armed arbitrator between the people of the dif- 
ferent States and their constituted authorities, and might lead to 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 223 

an usurped power, dang-erous alike to the stability of the State 
Governments and the liberties of the people. It will be my duty, 
on the contrary, to respect the requisitions of that government 
which has been recognised as the existing- Government of the 
State through all time past, until I shall be advised in regular 
manner, that it has been altered and abolished, and other substi- 
tuted in its place, by legal and peaceable proceedings, adopted 
and pursued by the authorities and people of the State." 

It is generally understood that the Commissioners 
misrepresented the condition of things in Rhode 
Island, in order to induce Mr. Tyler to go beyond 
his constitutional authorities ; that they gave him 
the assiuance that they would, on their return home, 
exert their power to have an act of amnesty passed 
by the Legislature, which was then in session, and 
thus relieve the President from the necessity of ever 
sending his troops here. But this they found the 
Governor and Council unwilling to do. The object 
of the Commissioners was, undoubtedly, to prevent 
the question from being carried before the Tribunal 
of the Nation, as that event would present many 
chances against them. Every effort was made at 
Washington to silence anything like a fair discussion 
of the subject. Mr. Allen, a member of the Senate 
from Ohio, ventured to call in question the correct- 
ness of the position assumed by Tyler, and attempt- 
ed to bring the whole subject under discussion. He 
was immediately cried out against as an abolitionist. 
Flaming articles appeared in the Madisonian, the 
Court Gazette of the President, denouncing Mr. Dorr 
as an abolitionist, and his followers as traitors against 
the -country. But at the same time, Mr. Simmons, 
and all the enemies of Freedom, were allowed to 
speak, and were heard. 

It is impossible to describe the consternation, and 
horror, produced by this letter, among the Suffrage 
Party. Complete dismay overwhelmed the naturally 
timid; and even the strongest hearts became op- 
pressed with unwonted heaviness. They could not 



224 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

believe that John Tyler would refuse to lend his 
countenance to the great American principle upon 
which the General Government was originally found- 
ed — upon which the Confederation gave place to 
the Constitution — upon which every one of the 
older States entered the Union — and which had 
been but lately exemplified in the case of Michigan. 
They could not believe that the President of the 
American Republic would thus openly disavow the 
republican principle, that the people are the source 
of all power — that they are the only rightful au- 
thors of constitutions — that they are not to be for- 
ever shackled by their own servants, though these 
appear in the shape of a Legislature — and that when 
they act in the peacable exercise of their sovereign 
and inalienable rights, such acts are to be respected 
as the law-paramount. It appears that no inquiry, 
no investigation of the matter, was made or held. 
The Constitution of the United States guarantees to 
every State of the Union a Republican form of gov- 
ernment ; and when a very large majority of the 
people claimed to have instituted such a form of gov- 
ernment, was it not worth while to inquire whether 
it might not be true, of some other than the people's 
enemies ? Would it not have been as well to count 
the votes, and, if need were, to call upon the voters, 
and test their validity ? To ascertain, if possible, if 
the claims of the Constitutionists were valid ; and, 
if necessary, refer the question to the Supreme Court 
of the United States? The President, in his letters 
to Gov. King, makes no allusion whatever to any 
such constitutional question ; he never even asks 
whether a majority of the People of Rhode Island 
had adopted the Constitution, but with the utmost 
coolness, cut himself aloof from all authorities, from 
all constitutional responsibilities, and, without sanc- 
tion, committed the daring act of interposing the 
strong arm of this Republic, to crush the people of 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 22^5 

Rhode Island, for the offence of asserting themselves 
free, and claiming to exercise the rights of freemen. 
This act was founded on a principle so monstrous 
and unjust, that, if taken advantage of, a despotic 
Monarchy could have been established, and the 
word of the Chief Magistrate was pledged to sus- 
tain it. 

Let the Genius of American Liberties cast aside 
her beautiful garments, and gird herself with sack- 
cloth. Let her prostrate herself in the dust, and 
cover her head with ashes. She must mourn, in the 
bitterness of undeserved wrong, all the days when 
such men as John Tyler, and his advocates, bear 
sway in the land ! 

The letter of Tyler was a virtual declaration of 
war against a majority of the People of Rhode Island, 
and that in behalf of a usurped government, which 
was neither republican in its origin, nor its tenden- 
cies. He pledged himself to sustain by the forces 
of the United States, a minority government, which 
had been but recently twice condemned, not only by 
a majority of the people, but by a majority ol the 
Landholders. By what right did he pledge himself 
to exert the forces of the Nation against the senti- 
ment, and against the principles of a major portion 
of the people of the community ? By what right did 
he pledge himself to sustain the Algerine law, which 
contains provisions wholly repugnant to the Consti- 
tution of the United States, and all constitutional 
government ? What right had he to terrify and over- 
awe the people, and thus prevent them from the 
peaceable exercise of their rights, in the only way in 
which they could assert them ; and thus put the 
'broad seal of the United States upon the bond which 
was to enslave three-fifths of the people of Rhode 
Island, a sovereign and independent State ? What 
right had he to suppose that the Charter Government 
was "the existing government," and that the gov- 



226 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

ernmeut under the People's Constitution, which had 
been called into existence by a majority even of the 
Freemen, was not the existing government — or 
that the peaceable exercise by the people of their 
inalienable rights, was, or could be, " an act of vio- 
lence ?" Why did he assume the dangerous power 
which he so emphatically denounces, and make him- 
self "an armed arbitrator between the people of 
Rhode Island, and their consituted authorities ;" au- 
thorities which had been legally constituted, if it is 
in the power of any body of men to generate a le- 
gal act? What right had John Tyler to say, through 
his sanction of the Algerine Law, that the people of 
Rhode Island should not peaceably convene them- 
selves, for the purpose of discussing their political 
duties and relations, without subjecting themselves 
to the danger of being shot down as rioters ? These 
questions will be answered — they must be answer- 
ed, and that probably at no distant day. 

The immediate effect of Tyler's letter upon the 
people's cause, was discouraging in the extreme. In 
all events which are to be brought about through the 
action of large bodies of men, confidence is the 
central pivot upon which success turns. Destroy 
this, and it is like destroying the power of gravita- 
tion in the natural world — the centripetal force — 
the power of union is broken, and disorder and ruin 
ensue. There is no doubt that thousands who voted 
for tlie Constitution, dared not vote for the officers 
under it, because the Federal Executive had assum- 
ed to decide against their rights ; and they foresaw 
ihat a carrying out of their principles would involve 
the crime of treason, and the horrors of civil war. 

It was exceedingly difficult to find cai^didates for 
the several offices on the People's Ticket. It has 
been often said, that Thomas W. Dorr had ambitious 
aims in the part which he took in Rhode Island af- 
fairs. Looking back at the line of governors who 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 227 

had preceded him, he must have been very " ambi- 
tious," in consenting to become one of their number ! 
This he at first positively refused to do. He was 
urged, entreated, to no purpose ; nor would he con- 
sent, until assured that the ruin of the cause would 
be involved in his refusal. 

Under the sanction of a name so dearly loved — 
so highly venerated, the people gathered' a tempo- 
rary confidence. They soon had their ticket re- 
spectably filled ; and they went about the business 
of their election in somewhat better spirit. 

Encouraged by the favorable aspect of their affairs, 
under tlie patronage of Tyler, the Algerines returned 
to the attack with renewed vigor ; and the cry of 
"Banks and Beauty," ''Booty and Beauty!" was 
raised in the Journal, and repeated, and reiterated, 
through the State, and throughout the country. No- 
thing could have been more injurious that this. It 
was undoubtedly frabricated by the College street 
Junto, and their minions ; and it proved itself wor- 
thy of the nest where it was fledged. They knew 
when they sent it forth, that it was false as Hell ! 
And the cry was repeated, and shouted to the four 
winds, by libertines of the blackest dye — by crea- 
tures so obscene — so vile - — so filthy with crime, 
that common decency could not approach them with- 
out contamination. These, and such as these, told 
the world that Thomas Wilson Dorr, the pure and 
upright, the lofty of heart and soul, was a whole- 
sale robber — a wholesale murderer — a wholesale 
violator of the most sacred domestic rights — and 
that he was gathering together a band of despera- 
does — of worse than assassins, under a promise that 
they should share the spoils of plundered, and bleed- 
ing, and violated Providence ! There is " no tongue 
so vile, but finds a kindred ear ; "and they were not 
unheard. 

A cry was also raised against foreigners and priest- 



228 ' MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

craft. Inflammatory speeches were made, abusive ' 
placards were issued, and an excitement was got up 
to act upon the prejudices, and inflame the ah'eady 
heated passions of tlie people. They did not choose 
to remember, that during the last war, when an at- 
tack upon Boston by the British, was threatened and 
expected, a foreigner, and a Catholic Bishop, the ex- 
cellent and lamented Cheverus, went, at the head 
of his foreign Catholic congregation, to build breast- 
works for the defence of the city. He exhorted his 
flock to resist the invading foe, and set the example 
by working himself. They forgot that our natural- 
ised citizens, subjects of the British crown, have 
cheerfully taken up arms, as American citizens, al- 
though they knew, that should they be taken by the 
mother country, who will never cancel the allegiance 
of her subjects, they would be shot, as traitors ; yet 
where is an instance of their proving faithless to the 
country of their adoption ? But a day will surely 
come, to answer for these things, also. 

The election took place on the ISth of April, and 
Thomas W. Dorr was elected Governor. There had 
been three tickets in Rhode Island. The People's 
Ticket, headed by Thomas W. Dorr ; the Rhode 
Island Prox, headed by Samuel W. King, and the 
Freemen's Republican Ticket, headed by Thomas 
F. Carpenter. Mr. King received 4,900 votes, Mr. 
Carpenter 800, and Mr. Dorr 6,200. 

April 25, a special session of the Legislature was 
called by Gov. King, who transmitted to that body 
a message, saying that probably no legislation was 
needed, after what had been done the last session — 
that a Delegation had been sent to tlie President ; 
he recited what he termed the traitorous proceedings 
of the Suff'rage Party ; and, in view of them, re- 
commended to the House the propriety of calling on 
the General Government for assistance. He recom- 
mended an organization of troops, and the appoint- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT, * 229 

I ment of a board of counsellors for the assistance of 
I the Executive. April 26, Resolutions were passed 
! for the organization of the military, to enlist and ac- 
I cept the service of volunteer soldiers — to draw on 
the Treasury for the support of the soldiers — to ap- 
point a board of counsellors — and to authorise the 
Governor to employ a private Secretary, at the' 
State's expense, to aid in his duty. Against this 
whole course of raising a standing army in time of 
peace, Mr. Atwell strongly protested, and as strongly 
urged the propriety of conciliatory measures. Mr. 
Jackson offered a Resolution calling for a Convention 
to form a Constitution, and providing that all who 
pay a tax on $150 worth of property, should vote 
for delegates — a ratio of representation was also 
fixed upon, A motion of postponement of this Re- 
solution was made. Mr. Atwell said, a sword was 
suspended by a single hair over the heads of the Ge- 
neral Assembly ; postpone the Resolution, and the 
hair was broken. He approved the Resolution, all, 
save the qualification ; said the people wanted some- 
thing now, beside promises. He feared the eftect 
upon some anxious for their rights, and many ready 
to bleed for them. He went into a history of the 
number of petitions offered. He had rolls upon rolls 
of them ; and it was strangely impolitic to tell the 
people, when their petitions were treated with con- 
tumely, that they must petition again ; and to tell 
them if they did not like the laws, they might go 
out of the State. 

The House was called, and the postponement was 
carried, by 45 to 12. 

A Bill was passed for the organization of volim- 
teer police companies in the city of Providence, and 
the Assembly adjourned to meet at Newport, after 
having, in their two last sessions, filled the measure 
of their arbitrary power. In the vindictive and ty- 
rannic;il spirit of Rehoboham, they have transcended 
20 



230 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the measure of their Fathers' oppression, and they 
cease not to declare, " My httle finger shall be thicken 
than my father's loins. And now, whereas my fatherJ 
did load you with a heavy yoke, / will add to your^ 
yoke ; my father has chastised you with whips, buti 
I WILL CHASTISE YOU WITH SCORPIONS." And thcyi 
have more than made good their declaration. 

May 1st, and just in time to anticipate the meeting: 
of the Constitutional Legislature, two companies of 
Artillery, belonging to the United States' troops, 
were ordered from Fort Columbus in New York har- 
bor, to occupy Fort Wolcott, which had not beeni 
garrisoned, and Fort Adams, near Newport, Rhode 
Island, under the pretence of protecting the public 
property there ; and to replace these, two companies 
of the same number, were ordered to Fort Columbus 
from Fort Monroe, Virginia, (Old Point Comfort.) 
Simultaneous with these arrangements, General 
Wool, the second in command of the Army of the 
United States, was ordered to Rhode Island. How 
dared John Tyler to send his hireling soldiery to oc- 
cupy a Fort built at the national expense, to repel a 
foreign foe — not to endanger the safety of Ameri- 
can citizens, while exercising their inalienable rights, 
in establishing that republican form of . government, 
which the Constitution guarantees to them? How 
dared he profane that old outpost, sacred to freedom 
and popular rights, by placing strong forces there, to 
overawe and terrify into submission to a despotic 
minority, a long-suffering, and much-injured people ? 
And, as if his meaning should not by any possibility 
be mistaken, 40 roiind of hall cartiidges were distri- 
buted to the ?ne7i, at parade, on the morning of their 
arrival. In the face of all these circumstances — 
the accumulation of troops in Rhode Island — the 
ordering there of veteran and experienced officers — 
the bringing of troops from Fort Monroe within sup- 
porting distance — the people are told that all is 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 231 

done merely with a view to the protection of the 
public property ; and this weak and miserable sub- 
terfuge, alike dishonorable to the Government, and 
insulting to the People, was persisted in, and directly 
asserted in an Extra Madisonian, lest the whole 
country should be indignant at these unwarrantable 
measures. But this '' paltering, in a double sense," 
had all the iniquity, the meanness of falsehood, with- 
out producing its effects. No one was deceived. 

Tuesday, May 3d, the Constitutional Government 
was organised, and the ceremony of inauguration 
took place. As the public buildings still remained 
in the hands of- the Chartists, an unfinished build- 
ing, designed for a Foundry, was procured for the 
purpose ; and hence the Assembly of the People has 
been sneeringly called the '' Foundry Legislature." 

The procession, while it had no single feature of 
a pageant, was, altogether, the most imposing of any 
I ever witnessed. There they were, the hard-hand- 
ed mechanics and the sun-burnt farmers, walking the 
earth erect as man ever should — every one with a 
light in his eye and an expression of conscious dig- 
nity on his brow, as if a new beam of truth had just 
then broke in upon his soul, revealing, for the first 
time, in its distinct legibility, " Here lives a Man." 
But the Algerine Fops and Aristocrats saw no moral 
dignity in this, and even Doctors of Divinity beheld 
no evidence of '^ strong feeling." They are to be 
pitied, who could perceive only '^ a farce" in such 
an array ! There was no appearance of disorder, or 
even levity ; but a feeling deep as the heart's core 
beamed in their honest, intelligent faces, which were 
turned up to the blue Heaven, as if they were un- 
consciously appealing there, for the right, which 
was so soon to be denied them here. The Chief 
Magistrate appeared on foot. Well worthy was he 
of the place he filled — right worthy to be the cham- 
pion of the Rights of Man. He had grown, and 



232 MIGHT AND RIGfHT. 

Strengthened, a scion of oak, amid the mushroomi 
aristocracy of Rhode Island, and subjected to influ-| 
ences which nothing hut oak could resist, and stiill 
be strong. 

The Constitutional Assembly passed an Act, Re- 
pealing the Algerine Laws, and resolutions requesting 
the Governor to inform the President of the United I 
States, that the Government of this State had been| 
duly elected, and organised under the Constitution of' 
the same, and that the said Assembly was then in 
session, and proceeding to discharge its duties, ac- 
cording to the provisions of the said Constitution ; 
that the Governor should make the same communi- 
cation to the President of the Senate, and Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, to be laid before 
the two Houses of the Congress of the United 
States ; and also to the Governors of the ditferent 
States, to be laid before the respective Legislatures. 

The Message of Governor Dorr is a document 
which would do honor to any State. It is at once 
manly and dignified in the assertion of right, and 
courteous towards opposers. It is evidently the work 
of a great mind^ and a true heart, the embodied 
THOUGHT of one whose large and magnanimous views 
of life and society, will never be interrupted or cir- 
cumscribed, by the boundaries of sect or party ; but 
must be associated with action, having for its object 
the welfare of man. No public document to be com- 
pared with it for statesmanship and dignity, had ever 
before emanated from a Governor of Rhode Island, 
It narrates with much clearness and perspicuity, the 
origin and progress of the Suffrage Movement, and 
in its whole tone and spirit, it affords a happy con- 
trast to the speeches and writings of his opponents. 
Gov. Dorr has too much real dignity ever to be 
wanting in gentlemanly courtesy. It is only smalt 
men who use the small missiles of incivility and 
personal abuse. The truly great are always courte* 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 233 

ous. Self-respect requires this. The man who 
abuses another, either by language or otherwise, de- 
scends at least to his level, however low he may be, 
and frequently below it ; but this is a fact of which 
the Chartists of Rhode Island seem to be not at all 
aware. Take the following passage as evidence that 
Gov. Dorr considered himself the rightfully elected 
Oovernor of the State, under a Constitution regularly 
framed and adopted. 

"That the sovereignty of this country resides in the People, is 
an axiom in the American system of government, which it is too 
late to call in question. By the theory of other governments, the 
Bovereign power is^ vested in the head of the State, or shared 
with him by the Legislature. The sovereignty of tlie country 
from which we derive our origin, is in the King and Parliament ; 
and any attempt to change the government of that country, would 
be deemed an insurrection. There ail reform must proceed from 
the government itself; which calls no conventions of the people, 
and recognises no such remedy for political grievances. In this 
country the case is totally the reverse. When the Revolution 
severed the ties of allegience, which bound the Colonies to the 
parent country, the sovereign power i)assed from its former pos- 
sessors, not to the General Government, which was the creation 
of the States, nor to the State Governments, nor to a portion of 
the people, but to the whole people of the States, in whom it has 
ever since remained. This is the doctrine of our Fathers, and 
of the early days of the Republic, and should be sacredly guard- 
ed as the only safe foundation of our political fabric. The idea 
that government is in any proper sense the source of power in 
this country, is of foreign origin, and at ivar witn the letter and 
spirit of our institutions. The moment that we admit the prin- 
ciple, that no change in government can take place without per- 
mission of the existing authorities, we revert to the worn-out 
theory of the monarchies of Europe ; and whether we are the sub- 
jects of the Czar of Russia, or the monarch of Great Britain, or 
of a landed oligarchy, the difference to us is only in degree, and 
we have lost the reality, though we may retain the form of a De- 
mocratic Republic." 

I will indulge in a few more extracts, which illus- 
trate not only the spirit of the man, but the spirit 
of the party, and the spirit of the Enterprise. 
20* 



234 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

" Your attention will be required to the force law and Re- 
solutions recently adopted by the General Assembly, for the sup- 
pression of the Constitution. Laws like these, which violate, in 
some of their provisions, the well known privileges enjoyed by 
the subjects of the British Monarchy, could hardly find favor in 
the land of Rog-er Williams. These enactments have been re- 
garded by the considerate men among our opponents as most im- 
politic and unjust, and by the people as null and void, because 
conflicting M^ith the paramount provisions of the Constitution. 
Military preparations have been made by direction of the Assem- 
bly, and the people have been consequently put on the defensive. 
But this is not the age nor the country, in which the will of the 
people can be overawed or defeated by measures like these." * 

" We are assembled in pursuance of the Constitution, and un- 
der a sacred obligation to carry its provisions into effect. Know- 
ing the spirit which you have manifested throughout this exciting 
controversy, the moderate but determined course which you have 
pursued, your love of order, and respect for all Constitutional 
laws, and for the rights of all other persons, while engaged in the 
acquisition of your own, I hardly need remind you of your duty 
to cast behind you all injuries and provocations, and leave them 
to the retributive justice of public opinion, which will ultimately 
appreciate every sincere sacrifice to the cause of truth, of free- 
dom, and humanity. Entertaining the deep and earnest conside- 
ration that we are engaged in such a cause, and conscious of our 
own imperfections, let us implore the favor of that Gracious 
Providence ivhich gvicled the steps of our ancestors, upon this our 
attempt to restore and permanently secure the blessings of that 
well ordered and rational freedom here established by the patri- 
otic founders of our State. 

" The provisions of the Constitution relating to the security of 
the right of suffrage against fraud, and to the registration of 
voters, will require your immediate action. The State demands 
of its government an economical admmistration of aflfairs, and 
■will justly complain of any increase of its expenses, at the pre- 
sent period. 

"I cannot more appropriately conclude this communication, 
than in the words of the Constitution, which declares that ' No 
favor or disfavor ought to be shown toward any man, or party, or 
society, or religious denomination. The laws should be made, 
not for the good of the few, but of the many, and the burdens of 
the State ought to be fairly distributed among its citizens." 

But the Journal of May 5th, tries — very feebly 
— very unfortunately — to get up a laugh at its ex- 
pense ; calls it nothing but " a patchwork of his own 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 235 

speeches, and the articles in the New Age, on the 
sovereignty of the People," the ''speeches of Mr. 
Parmenter," &c., and pronounced it to be '' in the 
regular style of the Town House orators." Let pos- 
terity, then, judge for themselves. They will keep 
Gov. Dorfs Message^ and like unto that, were the 
''agrarian" and "disorganising" speeches, lectures, 
and meetings, of the Suffrage men of Rhode Island, 
in their eighth struggle for Right. The Constitu- 
tional Legislature without having transacted much 
important business, adjourned Wednesday afternoon, 
May 4th, to meet at Providence on the 4th day of 
July. 

On Wednesday, May 4th, the Charter Government 
met at Newport, and the inauguration number tAvo, 
took place. The Charter Assembly passed resolu- 
tions, declaring that an insurrection existed in the 
State. A requisition was made on the President, 
and envoys were despatched to Washington for the 
purpose of asserting their claims. The procession 
was meagre, notwithstanding great efforts were made 
to get up an imposing spectacle ; two of the companies 
being subjected to a fine of $4 per annum, for non-at- 
tendance. Several ministers of the gospel also graced 
the procession, they having ascertained that the Peo- 
ple's cause was on the wane, true to the instinct of 
the genus, which stents popularity as a crow scents 
carrion, afar off", had withdrawn themselves from its 
support. 



236 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

RESIGNATIONS. 

On the evening of Monday, the 2d of May, a cau- 
cus was held at the Governor's Head (Quarters, where 
the question was discussed, whether the public pro- 
perty should be taken possession of, or not. This 
measure was recommended by Gov. Dorr, as the 
only avenue to success, and was urged by him with 
characteristic energy and strength : it was also ably 
sustained by George H. Brown, a very promising 
young member from Gloucester. But, strange to 
say, this measure, the absolute necessity of which 
so plainly appeared, was opposed, with more or less 
strength, by almost the whole body, beside ; and one 
of them, at least, threatened Mr. Dorr, that if he per- 
sisted in it, he would entirely withdraw his support 
and countenance, which were of so considerable im- 
portance, that they could not thus be violently with- 
drawn, without involving injury, if not ruin, to the 
cause itself This gentleman, who assumed so im- 
portant a part in the crisis, is an old politician, and 
used only to the sinuous windings of a politician's 
course. He knew not how to go straight forward. 
He knew not that there was an overwhelming tide 
of public sentiment, and public feeling, all in his 
favor, and ready to bear him on triumphantly to the 
goal ; but which, if not taken advantage of, would 
react as strongly in another direction, or be dispersed 
without action. Had Mr. Dorr been sustained in 
this measure, success would have been secure, in 
spite of everything — including John Tyler's Let- 
ter, and that without the loss of a single drop of 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 237 

blood. No one now pretends to doubt this ; and 
all, I believe, see their folly. The Algerines would 
not have dared to lift a musket, until they saw the 
United States' troops close at their heels ; or, what 
would have been much better, marching in their 
van ; and before this could have been eftected, the 
Constitutionists would have presented a Government 
de facto, as well as a Government de jure. 

I question not the honesty of intention — the true 
patriotism of those members who thus opposed Gov. 
Dorr, however unwise their conduct may appear now. 
They were influenced by right feeling, and right 
motives, and not by cowardice, as has been frequent- 
ly asserted ; and that they, and the men they led, 
were capable of being swayed by such motives, is, 
of itself, undeniable evidence against the slander of 
their enemies. When was a horde of demi-civilised 
barbarians, ever brought to the point where success 
would be almost the inevitable result, with the pros- 
pect of pillage, and the gratification of the most 
brutal appetites ; and, in full view of all they had 
sought, lying temptingly before them, arrested, and 
held in check, through fear that blood might hd^ 
spilled — that war might be the consequence of 
their progress? Never. The fact is incontroverti- 
ble ; and, by its single evidence, proves the Alge- 
rines a body of liars, when they have asserted that 
the Suffrage Party were seeking only plunder, and 
blood, and the violation of female sanctity ! when 
they have called them robbers, and cannibals, and 
«' worse than cannibals;" cries which have been 
echoed, and re-echoed through this wide land, until 
the free winds are disgusted with repeating them ! 

The fact cannot be disguised, that the Suffrage 
Party unwillingly resorted to force, and that only in 
defence of principles they had pledged themselves 
to sustain ; whereas, on the other hand, the very first 
measures taken by the ChaitistS; were of a warlike 



238 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

character. But to return to a vindication of the mo- 
tives of the Constitutional Legislature, in the act 
above alluded to. No one ever expressed a doubt of 
the legality of the government, or of the Constitu- 
tion, or of the legal right of the government to take 
possession of the State's property. The only ques- 
tion was, whether it was expedient to assume a hos- 
tile attitude towards the Charter Government, backed 
up as they were by the whole military and naval 
force of the United States. They believed, too, 
that the question would be fairly tried before the 
tribunal of the Nation ; and they said they would 
not so much as turn the key of the State House 
door, lest it should be construed into an act of vio- 
lence. They were willing to wait patiently for the 
justice, which they knew they must receive. The 
shame of their disappointment rests not on them. 

On the 4th of May, Governor Dorr issued the fol- 
lowing : 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE SAME. 

Whereas, the General Assembly, on the 3d day of May, 1842, 
passed the following Resolution : 

Resolved, That the Governor be requested to make known by 
Proclamation to the People of this State, that the Government 
under the Constitution thereof has been duly organised, and call- 
ing upon all persons, both civil and military, to conform them- 
selves to said Constitution, and to the laws enacted under the 
same, and to all other jurisdiction and authority duly exercised 
under and by virtue of the same. 

And whereas the General Assembly, on the 4th day of May, 
1842, passed the following Resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Governor be further requested to call on 
all persons, who are, or may become, indebted to the State, to 
make payment to the duly appointed officers and agents, under 
tlie provisions of said Constitution ; and to make known to all 
personn, that no payment to any other officers or agents than 
those aforesaid, will be considered as a discharge of their obli- 
gations. 

Resolved, That tlie Governor be requested to call on all per* 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 239 

sons, who are in possession, or have charg-e of any of the public 
property, to deliver the possession or charge of said property to 
the authorities and officers acting under the Constitution and laws 
ot the State. 

Now, therefore, I, Thomas W, Dorr, Governor of the State, 
do hereby, as requested, proclaim and make known said Resolu- 
tions to the People of the State, and call upon all persons to con- 
form themselves thereto, and to govern themselves accordingly. 

Tl s 1 ^" testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, 
L ' •J and caused the seal of the State to be affixed, at the 
City of Providence, this 4th day ot May, A. D 1842 
THOMAS W. DORR, Governor. 
By command of the Governor, 
Witness, 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary of State. 

On the same day, Daniel Brown, Representa- 
tive under the People's Constitution, was arrested at 
Newport. On the 5th, Dutee J. Pearce was arrested 
at the same place ; and on the 6th, Burrington An- 
thony, at Providence ; and arrests and resignations 
hecanie the order of the day. On the 7th, Gov. 
Dorr set off for Washington, to represent in person 
the situation of affairs ; and on the 12th, a large 
Mass Meeting was held in the Court of the State 
House, and Resolutions were passed unanimously, 
that no more arrests should be permitted, and to pro- 
tect their Chief Magistrate at all hazards. The ut- 
most excitement at this time prevailed. 

Gov. Dorr, on visiting Washington, finding that 
the heads of the various departments were altogether 
opposed to his plans, returned to New York, where 
he was received with the strongest demonstrations of 
respect and confidence. He returned on the 16th, 
and was escorted from the Stonington Depot, by a 
large parade of the military and private citizens. A 
splendid carriage, drawn by Avhite horses, had been 
prepared for his accommodation ; and as the proces- 
sion moved through the principal streets of the city, 
the beloved Governor was welcomed home, with the 



240 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

most cheering expressions of joy. When he had 
arrived on Federal Hill, Mr. Dorr stood up in the 
carriage and addressed the People, in a very noble 
and animated speech. He spoke of the hearty and 
warm reception he had met with in New York, and 
then drew from his belt a sword, which was present- 
ed him in that city. He said it was presented by 
the brother of a gallant officer who perished in 
the Florida wars, while in the service of his country. 
^' He was a brave man," said he. '' He has used 
this sword," laying it across his arm, '' in the cause 
of his country ; and I am ready to use it in the cause 
of Freedom. It was never dishonored in his hands, 
and it never shall be in mine." An officer in the 
carriage took the sword, and flourished it in the pre- 
sence of the spectators, who greeted it with hearty 
and continued cheers. This is the whole sum and 
substance of the famous sword speech, Algerine false- 
hoods, and false swearing, to the contrary, notwith- 
standing. 

On the 11th, Gov. King issued a proclamation, to 
announce the arrival of Tyler's second letter, in 
which the President fully exhibits the feelings of 
one, conscious that he has been dragged reluctantly 
into a mean scrape, and is holding back as hard as 
he can. He, however, gives the renewed assurance 
of sustaining the Chartists in their unholy measures, 
and they are satisfied therewith. 

The requisition to surrender the public property 
had not been complied with. The powers vested 
in the Executive to reclaim this property, had not 
been exercised. Complaints began to be made at 
the delay, and the Chief Magistrate was a prisoner 
under the protection of his friends ; a constant mili- 
tary attendance being necessary for his personal se- 
curity. The Government could not, without com- 
promising its own dignity and relf-respect, longer 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 241 

delay to take some decisive measure. In view of 
these facts, on the 16th Gov. Dorr issued the fol- 
lowing : 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

By Thomas JV. Dorr, Governor and Commander in Chief of the 
same. 

Fellow Citizens :— Shortly after the adjournment of the Ge- 
iieral Assembly, and the completion of indispensable executive 
business, I was induced by the request of the most active friends 
of our cause to undertake the duty, which had been previously 
suggested, of representing in person the interests of the People 
of Rhode Island in other States, and at the seat of the General 
Government. By virtue of a resolution of the General Assem- 
bly, I appointed Messrs. Pearce and Anthony Commissioners for 
the same purpose. 

Of the proposed action of the Executive in the affairs of our 
State, you have been already apprised. In case of the failure of 
the civil posse, {which expression was intended by the President 
as I have been informed to embrace the military power) to exe- 
cute any of the laws of the Charter Assembly, including their 
laws of pains and penalties, and of treason, as it has been for the 
first time defined, the President intimates an intention of resort- 
ing to the forces of the United States, to check the movements of 
the People of this State in support of their Republican Constitu- 
tion recently adopted. 

From a decision which conflicts with the right of sovereignty 
inherent in the People of this State, and with the principles which 
jie at the foundation of a Democratic Republic, an appeal has 
been taken to the People of our country. They understand our 
cause; they sympathise in the injuries which have been inflicted 
upon us ; they disapprove the course which the National Execu- 
tive has adopted toward this State ; and they assure us of their 
disposition and intention to interpose a barrier between the sup- 
porters of the People's Constitution and the hired soldiery of the 
United States. The democracy of the country are slow to move 
in any matter which involves an issue so momentous as that 
which is presented by the controversy in Rhode Island. But 
when they have once put themselves m motion, they are not to 
be easily diverted from their purpose. They believe that the 
People of Rhode Island are in the right; that they are contend- 
ing for equal justice in their political system ; that they have 
properly adopted a Constitution of government for themselves, as 
they were entitled to do ; and they cannot, and will not, remain 
indifferent to any act, from whatever motive it may proceed, 
which they deem to be an invasion of the sacred right of self- 

21 



242 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

government, of which the People of the respective States cannotl 
be divested. 

As your representative, I have been everywhere received with 
the utmost kindness and cordiality. To the People of the city of; 
New York, who have extended to us the hand of a generous fra- 
ternity, it is impossible to overrate our obligation at this most 
important crisis. 

It has become my duty to say, that, so soon as a soldier of the 1 
United States shall be set in motion by whatever direction, to 
act against the People of this State, in aid of the Charter Gov- 
ernment, I shall call for that aid, to oppose all such force, which, 
I am fully authorised to say will be immediately and most cheer* 
fully tendered to the service of the People of Rhode Island, from 
the city of New York and from other places. The contest will 
then become national, and our State the battle ground of Ameri* 
can freedom. 

As a Rhode Island man, I regret that the Constitutional ques- 
tion in this State cannot be adjusted among our own citizens. 
But, as the minority have asked that the sword of the National 
Executive may he thrown into the scale against the People, it is 
imperative on them to make the same appeal to their brethren of 
the States ; an appeal which, they are well assured, will not be 
made in vain. They who have been the first to ask assistance 
from abroad, can have no reason to complain of any consequences 
which may ensue. 

No farther arrests under the law of pains and penalties, which 
was repealed by the General Assembly of the People at their 
May session, will be permitted. I hereby direct the military un- 
der their respective otficers, promptly to prevent the same, and to 
relieve all who may be arrested under said law. 

As requested by the General Assembly, I enjoin upon the mili- 
tia forthwith to elect their company officers ; and I call upon vol- 
unteers to organise themselves without delay. The military are 
directed to hold themselves in readiness for immediate service. 

Given under my hand, and the seal of the State, at 
[l. s.] the City of Providence, this 6th day of May, A. D. 
1842. 

THOMAS W. DORR, Governor 
and Commander in Chief of the State of Rhode Island and Pro- 
vidence Plantations. 

By the Governor's command, 

William H. Smith, Secretary of State. 

On the 17th of May a direction was issued to the 
military of the several towns, to repair to Head 
(oluarters forthwith, there to await further orders. 
In the evening of the same day, a council of mill- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 243 

tary officers was held, and a plan of operation was 
submitted to them. ''They all thought alike/' 
Governor Dorr says, ''as to the necessity of imme- 
diate action, but there was some question as to the 
point at which it should commence." The enemy 
had possession of the State Arsenal, a large stone 
building, situated on an open plain, about half a mile 
northwest of Federal Hill, which contained from 
1,500 to 2,000 stands of arms, several pieces of ar- 
tillery, and ammunition, and was garrisoned by a 
force of 40 or 50 men. It was determined, at length, 
to make this building the first point of attack — 
since the possession of it would have enabled the 
Commander in Chief to maintain the position he 
then occupied on Federal Hill, against any force 
that could be brought against him — or so it was 
believed. A delay till past midnight occurred, in 
waiting for the arrival of the military from the coun- 
try ; and, by that time, some of the city volunteers 
had retired. 

But I must now look back to the day previous. 
In the afternoon a rumor had reached the city, that 
the Governor was to be arrested ; whereupon a 
company of thirty volunteers, resolved to go to 
the Artillery Armory, and bring away two artillery 
pieces, with their apparatus, for the purpose of 
sustaining Governor Dorr. At that time the Ca- 
dets were in their Armory, which is only 30 or 
40 feet from the Artillery Armory. The Cadets had 
five guns apiece, ready loaded, and yet the Constitu- 
tional Volunteers stood facing their Armory for more 
than half an hour, and exposed to their fire. When 
they first saw the men, the Cadets came out, looked 
at them, and fired one gun — or it might have gone 
off accidentally. The Marine Artillery were also in 
the basement story of the same building. But not- 
withstanding all this strength, sufficient to have 
crushed them at a blow, the Constitutionists obtain- 



244 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

ed possession of the pieces, and carried them tri- 
umphantly through the streets, in broad day-light. 
The ways were so thronged, that it was often diffi- 
cult to move ; yet only two persons exhibited any 
symptoms of a will to resist. All was pure miutter- 
able terror and astonishment. The guns were carri- 
ried to the Governor's Head Quarters. 

Early on Wednesday morning, about 250 men had 
assembled ; and they took up their line of march for 
the destined point of attack. At the meeting of 
officers, Gov. Dorr had been requested to remain at 
Head (Quarters, but he considered it his duty to di- 
rect the operations in person, and accompanied the 
men, on foot, to the field. While on the line of 
march, and at a time when the lateness of the hour 
would admit of no delay, the Governor ascertained 
that only two of the four pieces of artillery, which 
he had ordered for the service, had been brought for- 
ward. On reaching the ground, a demand was made 
through an officer, for the surrender of the Arsenal, 
which demand was answered in the negative. A 
dense fog had arisen, causing much difficulty and 
delay in bringing the guns into suitable positions. 
And as objects could not be discovered beyond a 
short distance, the arrangement of placing the guns 
far apart from each other was changed, and they 
were brought into position at a point northeast from 
the building, and within close range of its artillery. 
In the mean time, a scene of confusion ensued, and 
a partial disorganization of the forces, in consequence 
of the extreme fright, and subsequent disappearance 
of some of the officers and men. This confusion 
interrupted the transmission of orders, and Gov. Dorr 
was obliged to traverse the field, to bring the com- 
panies into their position, and to restore order, in 
which he was partially successful. An ineffectual 
attempt was then made to fire the pieces of artillery. 
But to the surprise and chagrin of all, the priming 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 245 

flashed, and the guns resohitely refused to obey the 
word of command. Daylight was now approaching, 
and made such fearful disclosures to the assailing 
party, that it was judged improper to attempt any 
further prosecution of the plan ; and by suggestion 
of the officers, the guns were withdrawn, with the 
understanding that the attempt would be renewed, 
whenever a more favorable opportunity presented. 
This was demanded by officers and men, who, Mr. 
Dorr says, ''were brave and true, wanting only a 
more thorough organization." Most of the men se- 
parated for the present, on leaving the field, the re- 
mainder accompanied the Governor to Head (Quar- 
ters, where, on examining the guns, it was found 
that they had been plugged up by some person, but 
by whom, never was discovered. 

I will insert an extract from a letter, in relation to 
the above movement ; though I, not being ^^ for 
war,''^ disagree with the true and noble-hearted 
writer, in some material points. I inteiid to write 
the truth — if possible, 07ihj the truth — and, so far 
as it may be compressed in these " 300 pages," the 
whole truth. No personal interest — no hostile feel- 
ing — no prejudice in favor of, or against any indi- 
vidual, or party, has been permitted to sway me. 
Had the Leaders of the Suffrage Party possessed the 
far-reaching insight, the confidence, the valorous de- 
termination, the heroic self-sacrifice, the unity of 
purpose, of their much abused Governor, and thus 
been led to co-operate with him, instead of spending 
their strength to oppose him, I cannot doubt that en- 
tn-e success would have been the result. But they 
HAD NOT ; and these are not the days of blind surren- 
der to the will of amy leader — these are trnies of 
nidependent and individual thought and action; 
hence, dissentions. But I can no more believe those 
men were '' cowards," than I believe the heroic and 
self-devoted few, who stood ready to surrender their 
21* 



246 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

lives ill defence of their liberties, were such. It is 
not all of valor to brave death in the field. There 
is another, and often a higher degree of courage, 
which grows out of a regard to human life ; and 
that the Sufirage men had learned of their leaders, to 

DOUBT " THE RIGHT TO TAKE LIFE," iu SUppOl't of 

their cause, demonstrates that both leaders and men, 
were capable of feeling, and being swa^^ed by a high 
and pure moral motive — all the slanders of their 
enemies to the contrary, notwithstanding. The fol- 
lowing extract contains much of truth, and strongly 
portrays the trying situation of Governor Dorr. 

" Let it be remembered concerning the attack upon the Arse- 
nal, that, in addition to all the discouraging circumstances under 
which Gov. Dorr labored at that time, all his head men, Senators 
and Representatives, &c., refused to countenance his movement 
upon the Arsenal, from sheer cowardice and incapacity. They 
labored indefatigably, from one o'clock in the afternoon of the 
17th, until one o'clock of the morning of the J 8th of June, to de- 
feat and disconcert all the measures and plans of the Governor. 
The historian who would be respected, should write the truth, 
just as it happened, strike where it will, or not write at all. I 
know, for I was there on the spot, that the absence of these men, 
whom we had a right to see on the ground, encouraging and 
cheering us on, by the side of the patriotic Governor, Avas the 
cause of the failure of the whole undertaking. I do know, that 
of all tiie men who were earnest and foremost in setting the Suf- 
frage Movement agoing, nearly all who had been elected to office 
under the People's Constitution ; all mIio had spouted in public 
meetings, and all who had resolved on war to the knife, like cow- 
ards as they were, dared not show their faces at that momentous 
time ! Do not put the blame on the people ; let the disgrace go 
where it ought, on those who set the ball in motion. I know the 
effect of such baseness at the tmie we were on the ground before 
the Arsenal, when it began to be whispered about from one to 
anotlier, tiiat such and such persons were not there, to share the 
dangers of the fight. Our men, one after another, soon began to 
leave the ground, and with reason, too. Men began to doubt the 
truth of our cause, and the right we had to take life, in support of 
our cause, when all of our leaders had absented themselves from 
us, at tiiat dark and dreadful hour. I never can think upon that 
niglit, without uttering imprecations upon the men, Avho, by their 
absence, caused us to be defeated. I say that the whole m^ral 
force of the Revolution was broken at that time. There is where 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 247 

we fell to pieces. Look at the resignations of these men the 
next day ! Was it not in very truth an invitation to our ' lords 
and masters,'' to seize upon, and hang Gov. Dorr ? Was it not a 
warning for all men, to look out, anid protect themselves — to avoid 
all responsibility in future ?" 

Information soon came that an attack was project- 
ed upon the brave Governor, with his remnant of 
true men ; and preparations for resistance were im- 
mediately entered into. Several gentlemen of talent 
and experience accepted appointments for the time, 
and entered into the arrangements for defence ; and 
six gnns, the agreed signal for a rally at Head Quar- 
ters, Avere fired at 7 o'clock. A momentary discour- 
agement had been felt at the failure of the attack 
upon the Arsenal ; but the men at Head Quarters 
soon recovered from it, and they watched for the re- 
assembling of their companions, hoping to make a 
successful resistance. But contrary to the expecta- 
tions of all, only a very few in the course of the en- 
suing hour, responded to the call. 

The principal cause of this, was the ptiblication 
of a handbill, headed, " Resignation of all the offi- 
cers under the People's Constitution." This hand- 
bill had been widely circulated among the friends of 
Suffrage in the city. It was signed by two Sena- 
tors, and nine Representatives of Providence, (all 
who had not before resigned,) and contained, not 
only a resignation of their offices, but condemned the 
proceedings of Gov. Dorr as " deplorable," and ^' de- 
structive to the cause in which we are engaged ;" it 
also protested strongly against the employment of 
force by the President. 

The course which the signers had seen fit ta 
adopt, was made known to Gov. Dorr at 8 o'clock, 
in a letter written by Col. Saiuuel H. Wales, dated 
May 18th, 1842, and signed by himself, Eli Brown, 
William Colem_an, F. L. Beckford, and John A. 
Rowland, all signers of the handbill. They stated 



248 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

that the Senators and Representatives had determin- 
ed to resign nistantly ; that they disapproved of the 
Governor's proceedings ; and that their men would 
not act against their own citizens. 

The difficulty of Gov. Dorr's position, was aggra- 
vated by a report, which originated with, and was 
put in circulation by, his opponents, that the contro- 
versy had been settled by a compromise, honorable 
to both parties. Some of the friends of the Consti- 
tution were so far deceived by this, as to aid in ex- 
tending a report which had no foundation in fact. 
Several propositions of compromise had been made, 
and submitted to Gov. Dorr, both by his Constitu- 
tional friends, and his near relatives, who were lead- 
ing men in the Charter Party. These he positively, 
and uniformly, refused to accept, because they all 
involved a surrender of the Constitution. Did any 
one of all those who have so freely condemned Gov. 
Dorr, imagine himself standing, for one moment, in 
his position, and think how much better he would 
have acted under any circumstances ? They never 
would have been there^ they say. True. A pigmy 
can never fill the niche made for a giant. But let 
them look at Governor Dorr — his magnanimity — 
his self-devotion — his uncompromising integrity — 
his true greatness of soul — and they will see, if they 
can see anything, that it is much easier to sneer at 
his misfortunes, than to imitate his virtues. It is 
difficult, indeed, to appreciate his trials. They were 
such as an ordinary man could neither feel, nor sus- 
tain. I subjoin an extract irom his address to the 
People of Rhode Island, of May 21, 1842. 

" You will readily appreciate the painful responsibility which 
rested upon rae, at the point of time which I have mentioned, of 
deciding the course which duty required of me. 

" I liad endeavored to bear up with a becoming spirit against 
all the power and influence of our opponents ; but our movements 
were now paralysed by our friends, most of whom, six days be- 
fore, had united in the solemn determination of the mass meet- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 249 

ing, to which I have alluded, to defend their Chief Magistrate at 
all events. Some of them disapproved the military operation 
proposed on Tuesday evening; but the first information of an 
open opposition and general resignation was received by me, as 
already stated, on Wednesday morning. To this I must add that, 
before the receipt of Col. Wales' letter, Mr. Anthony requested 
me not to make his house the scene of a hostile encounter. 

" Nearly one hour and a half had now elapsed from the firing of 
the signal guns, and our ranks had been increased by but few 
additions from the city or country. About 60 men of all arms, 
including the artillerists, as nearly as I could ascertain, were 
now at the head quarters. That those who remained would have 
Bacrificed their lives to a man for my protection, I did not doubt, 
and their subsequent conduct fully confirmed their sincerity. I 
cannot express the feelings of grateful obligation which I enter- 
tain towards these brave and noble men. Tiiey could not have 
been mastered by their opponents without great destruction of 
life ; and they would have fallen in the end by a superior force 
of 500 strong. I deemed it my duty, under all the circumstances, 
not to ask this sacrifice at their hands. I called to nie the Colo- 
nel in command, and communicated to him the state of affairs. 
His reply was, " the men are leaving us." I directed him to fall 
back with his command, or to give such other order as circum- 
stances might require. At half-past 8 o'clock, and with a regret 
for which there are no words, I withdrew from the head quarters 
to the town of Cumberland. Of subsequent events you are well 
informed. 

" In the assurance that I have never compromised your rights, 
and have returned to friends and opponents a uniform reply, ad- 
verse to the abandonmentof the principles of popular sovereignty 
and of equal rights involved in the support of your Constitution, 
allow me to add, that I have never compromised ray own right to 
serve your cause. Having sincerely devoted to that cause all the 
abilities I possess, and having in your service sustained the loss 
of all things hut honor, I may safely commit to you, fellow-citi- 
zens, my vindication from all unjust or ungenerous imputa:ions, 
either upon my motives or conduct." 

A word now in relation to the resignation of the 
Representatives, who have been stigmatised as trai- 
tors, and cowards for the act. In order to form a 
just conception of the position occupied by the Re- 
presentatives, the situation of the Suffrage Party 
should be taken into the account. Most of them 
were mechanics, and men of moderate means, unac- 
quainted with the technicalities of the Law, and, 



250 MIGHT AND BIGHT. 

although believing they were right, yet beholding 
almost the entire legal profession deserting them. 
The troops of the United States, and the power of 
the General Government, were arrayed against them, 
without the knowledge that they would be support- 
ed by a single State government ; and almost with 
the certainty of involving the country in a civil war, 
the result of which no one could foresee, but of 
which Rhode Island, being the theatre of action, 
would be inevitably the greatest sufterer. Added to 
this, was the example of hundreds of men who had 
always acted with them, forsaking their old friends, 
and rushing to the ranks of the enemy. The Party 
was also poor. The citizens had exhausted their 
whole means in the controversy. They beheld be- 
fore them a body of men, without discipline, with- 
out commanders, without arms, and without provi- 
sions. Indeed, the morning after the attack upon 
the Arsenal, the men with Gov. Dorr were found 
without means of their own, of procuring a break- 
fast. It is not strange that in view of all these dis- 
couraging circumstances, human weakness faltered ; 
and the weight of responsibility resting upon the 
officers — a responsibility involving such fearful con- 
sequences < — should have impelled them to the course 
they took. It was not through fear of the Algerine 
law ; for they were already implicated as deeply as 
possible ; but it was to prevent the sacrifice of life, 
which appeared inevitable. It was the opinion of 
many of the leading men of the Suffrage Party, at 
the time of the organization of the government, that 
when legally organised, the Charter Government 
would yield obedience to it, so that the rightful and 
constitutional powers might go peaceably into effect. 
This they probably would have done, but for Ty- 
ler's Letter ; and, further, it can hardly be doubted 
that the question of Constitutional Right would have 
been sustained by Congress, had it been properly set 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 251 

before them. To do this, was only the constitutional 
duty of that Body. If Tyler had not interfered 
with the sovereignty of this State, the People would 
have taken care of themselves, and of their Govern- 
ment, if they had been allowed to settle the ques- 
tion. They did not fear any resistance to their legal 
authority, so far as this State was concerned ; but 
they could not be expected to resist the whole force 
of the United States. * 

In view of all these circumstances, I think the 
signers of the handbill may be justified in their 
course, although a very different result might have 
been consequent upon a different course of action. 
Had they convened themselves together, and re- 
solved, one and all, that they would neither engage 
in, nor sanction, any warlike measure, but that they 
would sustain their principle, to the utmost extrem- 
ity — If they had publicly proclaimed this, and had 
been molested in the peaceable exercise of the func* 
tions of their several offices, and given themselves 
up, to be marched in a body to the State House, or 
the Star-Chamber, and thence to the State prison, 
until that prison was filled, and new prisons had been 
erected, to contain them and their adherents, they 
would have presented what the world never saw — 
the sublimest spectacle under Heaven — a whole 
government yielding themselves up, as martyrs, to 
the cause of Liberty, and Truth, and Right; and 
the whole country — the whole world — would have 
responded to their claim — they would have said ; 
" These men are seeking only right, and right they 
must, and shall have." I doubt not that many of 
those men had sufficient heroism for this, had the 
idea occurred to them ; for they have exhibited the 
highest kind of courage, moral courage — in daring 
to be called cowards, for the sake of what they be- 
lieved to be right. 

I give the following extract from a letter, by one 



252 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

who was present, and an actor in the scene, as de- 
scriptive of the attack on Federal Hill. 

" In the mean time, the enemy had been muster- 
ing all their forces preparatory to an attack. Steam- 
boats had been put in requisition, sent to the south 
part of the State, and everything in the shape of 
men dragged on board, to swell the numbers. Old 
men and boys, black and white, from all parts of the 
State, were poured into the ranks — the stores and 
shops were closed, and all business was suspended. 
In forming the column, with regard to rank, a diffi- 
culty occurred among the troops, which it took some 
time to settle. The Providence Infantry, at that 
time, were not so tenacious of their claims, as they 
had been on a former occasion, and were willing to 
resign the post of honor to the Newport Artillery, 
which honor the latter company very politely de- 
clined, saying, ' we have come here to assist you, 
but not to do all the fighting.^ The difficulty was 
finally settled. The Artillery took the right, and 
the Infantry posted themselves in the rear, much to 
their satisfaction. Everything being now ready, 
this formidable array, numbering probably 1000 men, 
took up their line of march under the command of 
the veteran Col. Blodget, arrived at the foot of the 
street under the brow of the hill, and there halted. 
This street is called Atwell's Avenue, and passes di- 
rectly by the house of Burrington Anthony, then 
occupied by Gov. Dorr as his Head Quarters. The 
enemy at this time had knowledge of the fact, that 
Gov. Dorr had disbanded his troops, and retired, and 
that the troops had left the field. There were not 
at this time 20 muskets to be found on the ground. 
Several hundreds of the Suffrage men, without arms, 
or any means of defence, remained scattered over 
the ground. About 50 brave men who had charge 
of the two brass pieces, faithfully stood' by them, 
and bravely defended the ground against this mighty 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 253 

force, numberihg at least 1000 muskets, and 6 pieces 
of artillery. 

''A message was received from the enemy, who 
still lay concealed under the hill, in confirmation of 
the report circulated early in the morning, that if 
Gov. Dorr would retire from the State, and the troops 
disband, and leave the ground, a compromise would 
be negotiated, honorable to both parties, and all that 
the Suffrage Party had ever contended for, should 
be granted. An influential gentleman of that party 
proclaimed from an upper window of Head Quar-' 
ters, that he had full confidence in the integrity of 
9ur opponents; and, further, that Gov. King had 
pledged himself to that effect. This, however, was 
not satisfactory. We had been grossly deceived by 
them before, and had no confidence in their integrity. 
We demanded that Gov. King should come forward, 
to confirm the truth of what had been promised. 
* Make room ! Make room ! Gov. King is coming !' 
resounded through the crowd. A way was opened, 
and Mr. King, accompanied by the High Sheriff, 
passed through, and entered the house of Mr. An- 
thony. The presence of the Governor inspired the 
people with a momentary belief of a speedy termi- 
nation of the difficulties, which was manifested by 
considerable of a hearty cheer from the multitude. 
The Sheriff soon appeared at the widow, calling out, 
' Order ! Order, Gentlemen !' In reply to this impre- 
tions, hisses, and threats were uttered by the throng ; 
when Gov. King immediately passed his head out of 
the window, saying, ' Gentlemen, the Sheriff will 
now proceed to search the house for Thomas W. 
Dorr.' 

" ' Treason ! Treason ! No. Never !' echoed and 
re-echoed from the multitude ; and a general 
rush was made for the door. Gov. King most 
fortunately succeeded in making his escape down 
the back stairs, and over the fence in the rear of 
22 



254 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the house, when he was no more seen by us for 
that day. 

'' The two pieces of Artillery were stationed in the 
street, about half way between Head (Quarters and 
the brow of the hill. Several demands were made 
upon us to surrender them, all of which were indig- 
nantly refused. We told them to come and take 
them ; but with their 1000 men, and 6 pieces of ar- 
tillery, they dared not. And yet they boast of 
marching up in solid column, against batteries and 
bayonets, and driving all before them. The enemy 
advanced, until we, Avho were stationed in front, 
could just see the tops of their hats. They then 
halted 15 or 20 minutes, just under the brow of the 
hill. Wheeling off to the south, they then passed 
round the hill, and up Federal street, through an 
alley in the rear of Mr. Anthony's house. During 
this time, the artillery pieces had been removed on 
to an open plain further from the house. As the 
enemy advanced upon us, the Avord " Fire," was 
given, when the whole regiment scattered, in the 
utmost confusion, panic stricken, like a flock of 
frightened sheep, without a leader. In their abrupt 
retreat, they knocked down several sections of a rail 
fence, and all hid themselves behind whatever shield 
presented itself, not excepting the gallant Colonel. 
Some of the men left, and the remainder rallied and 
came forward again, but only to enact the same 
farce. 

'' Du-ring this time, another small detachment from 
the main body, under the command of Col. Martin, 
gained the summit of the hill — there being no force 
to oppose them — at a point a little south, and un- 
der shelter of the bank through which the street had 
been cut. And they won for themselves immortal 
honor — which very few will covet. After steam- 
ing up their courage a little, and being some- 
what recruited, they ventured to advance, and make 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 255 

another demand for the guns, which was treated 
with contempt. The artillery men, the only oppos- 
ing force at this time on the ground, bravely main- 
tained their position, hurling defiance at their foe. 
They continued to fall back, to prevent the enemy 
from gaining their rear, removing the pieces of artil- 
lery as they retired, until they reached an open plain 
adjoining Tift's Woods, so called, north of the road. 
There on the edge of the hill they planted their 
pieces, bringing them to bear on the east, southeast, 
and south. In the rear we were protected by the 
descent of the hill, which was inaccessible, it being 
at least fifty feet in height, and nearly perpendicular. 
'' About this time, S. A. Comstock, of Burrillville, 
and Henry D'Wolf, of Uxbridge, Mass. arrived on 
the ground. An organization then took place, by 
choosing D'Wolf as commander, who appointed 
Comstock as his Lieutenant. At this time the en- 
trenchment was in operation, the direction of which 
was pointed out by D'Wolf, and afterwards discon- 
tinued by him. The field being covered with spec- 
tators, was ordered to be cleared. This was soon 
done, and sentries were posted by the road side. At 
about 4 o'clock, B. Anthony, and Crawford Allen, 
came on to the field, the latter requesting us to sur- 
render the brass guns. This was j^romptly refused ; 
and the gentlemen had leave to leave the field. In 
the mean time, the reinforcement which we expect- 
ed, did not arrive ; and, to the chagrin of officers and 
men, a committee, as they called themselves, came 
to D'Wolf, and demanded the surrender of the guns, 
saying they were under bonds to return them that 
night. D'Wolf told them that physical force was 
opposed to the execution of a bond ; that they might 
come and take the guns, but it should be over the 
muzzle if any way. The citizens sent us some re« 
freshments of beef, bread, cheese and beer ; but no 
ardent spirits were permitted on the field; after 



256 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

which, drilling was renewed. At sun-set, when the 
night-guard was posted, it was deemed proper to de- 
clare the field, including one street, under martial 
law ; of which the citizens were apprised. A va- 
cant house standing on the western extremity of the 
field, was taken possession of for quarters, about 9 
o'clock. No recruits coming in, a recruiting sergeant 
was sent to Pawtucket to raise a reinforcement. 
About midnight D'Wolf and Comstock left Head 
Quarters, under pretence of going around the out- 
posts, and penetrated through and about the city. 
Finding nothing glaring, it was thought a favorable 
opportunity to secure the State Arsenal, on which a 
feint had been made the night previous. To this 
end, as soon as they returned to Head Q^uarters, 
Comstock, with a guide, was directed to reconnoiter 
the lines about the Arsenal. He made his round, 
and reported himself at Head Quarters, that nothing 
was in the way ; upon which it was resolved, that if 
20 recruits arrived, the attack should be immediately 
made. But to the extreme mortification of all, about 
2 o'clock their despatch returned from Pawtucket, 
without success ; and the expedition was reluctantly 
abandoned. There were barely enough, of our men, 
to relieve the guard ; and most of these had been on 
duty the previous night ; but their determined spirits 
never faltered. At day-break an alarm was fired; 
still no support came ; when about 8 o'clock, it was 
deemed proper to withdraw. Having no horses, or 
the means to procure any, to remove the pieces, we 
left the field ; and thus ended this bloodless cam- 
paign, in which none were killed, none wounded, 
and none taken prisoners," 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 257 

CHAPTER XIV. 

MARTIAL LAW. 

On the 17th of May, Gov. Dorr addressed a letter 
to Gov. Fairfield, of Maine, informing him of the 
position of the Suffrage Party, and requesting him 
to bring the proceedings of the President, and the 
question of the rights of the people of Rhode Island, 
before the Legislature of the State of Maine, which 
was either then, or soon to be in session. This re- 
quest was complied with. Action was taken on the 
subject, and a committee was appointed to report on 
the question. This committee presented two re- 
ports — a minority report in favor of the Chartists, 
and a majority report in favor of the Constitutionists. 
Nearly at the same time. Gov. King made a requi- 
sition on Chauncey F. Cleveland, Gov. of Connect- 
icut, for the surrender of Gov. Dorr, as a fugitive 
from Justice, which was finally refused. A requisi- 
tion was also made on John Davis, Gov. of Massa- 
chusetts, which was granted. In justice to Gov. 
Davis, I would say, that he pronounced the Algerine 
Act to be unconstitutional, and said he would grant 
no requisition to surrender any person under it. He 
afterwards did surrender two persons, Messrs. Luther 
and Sayles, in compliance with a requisition under 
that act ; but when he became aware of the fact, he 
withdrew his authority, and ordered the Sheriff not 
to make any arrest. But in refusing shelter to the 
exiled patriot, he acted upon a principle which would 
have prompted the surrender of Milton, Hampden, 
and Sydney, as fugitives from justice, had they 
sought protection in this country, upon the requisi- 
tion of their dissolute and tyrannical monarch. And 
Gov. Seward, of New York, to be consistent with his 
principles, should have driven back the revered and 
22* 



258 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

cherished Gambradella, and Maroncelli, to rot in the; 
prisons of Austria, and the excellent and lamented! 
Follen, to be crushed beneath the iron heel of despot- 
ism. Thus we see, that old Massachusetts, through] 
her Governor, thrust forth from her boundaries the 
modern Exponent of the great American Principle, 
and sustained the usurpers who were violating that I 
principle. 

On the 8th day of June, Gov. King, by proclama- 
tion, announced that Gov. Cleveland had refused to 
comply with his requisition ; whereupon, by advice' 
of the Council, he offered "a reward of One Thou- 
sand Dollars, for the delivery of the said Thomas 
Wilson Dorr to the proper civil authority of this 
State, within one year from the date hereof, that he 
may be dealt with as to law and justice shall apper- 
tain." 

An effort had been made by Mr. Whipple on the 
part of the Chartists, and Messrs. Harris and Antho- 
ny, on the part of the Constitutionists, to adjust the dif- 
ficulty in an amicable way. After their return from 
Washington, these gentlemen met, when Mr. Whip- 
ple presented the following schedule of the proposed 
compromise. 

'^ MEMORANDUM." 

" An action forthwith to be brought in the United 
States' Circuit Court, involving the validity of the 
People's Constitution, to be tried and decided as soon 
as possible. The facts to he first ascertained hy a 
suitable cotn^nittee, to be chosen by agreement of the 
parties. 

" Until the final decision of such case, proceedings 
under the 'act in relation to offences against the 
sovereign power of the State,' to be suspended, ex- 
actly in the present state. 

'' Until such decision, the present government of 
the State (of which Gov. King is head) to remain 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 259 

in the full exercise of their authority, and the per- 
sons claiming to exercise authority under the Peo- 
ple's Constitution, to omit such exercise altogether." 

'' Providence, May 17, 1842." 

The terms of this compromise, — or rather the com- 
promise itself, was urged, without naming terms — 
were proclaimed from the window of Head (Quar- 
ters, on the morning of the 17th, by Messrs. Harris^ 
Aldrich, and Ashley. There was much, and is much 
dissatisfaction, still, in connection with the part 
which these gentlemen took on that occasion. As 
it appears, there must have been a mi^mderstanding 
among the several parties. Mr. Whipple had found 
it impossible to bring the Governor and Council into 
his views ; and so the whole matter was exploded. 
It is judged by many, that it would have been much 
better for the Suffrage Party, had Mr. Whipple's 
proposition been complied with ; for Mr. W., though 
an avowed aristocrat, is, I believe, an honest man. 
But it appears to me Gov. Dorr was right in reject- 
ing this proposition, shice it certainly did involve a 
surrender of the great principle. Of course, the 
Chartists had possession of all the public treasuries, 
together with the banks, and the State's portion of 
the surplus of the U. S. Revenue, which was to "be 
employed as a fund for the support of public schools ; 
and they did not fail to vse the public property, to 
the furtherance of their wicked plans. A general 
organization of the military took place, and the 
troops were ordered to hold themselves in readiness 
to march at a moment's warning. The State at this 
time was wholly under the control of the Governor's 
Council — the Chief Magistrate, himself, being a 
mere cypher, and acting in obedience to the will of 
this body. The forces of the State amounted to at 
least 3000 strong ; and Wra. Gibbs McNeill, was ap- 
pointed Commander in Chief of this great army. 

Vague and false reports were daily circulated, that 



260 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

Mr. Dorr, aided by his friends in New York and other 
places, would soon return, supported by a gang of 
ruffians, to sack the city. These reports were circu- 
lated through the columns of the Journal, a paper 
wherein the truths are to the falsehoods, " as two 
grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff; you 
shall search all day ere you find them, and when 
you have them, they are not worth the search." 
Among the false statements in this odious point, one 
of the few which deserve notice, is the story circu- 
lated at this time, that Gov. Dorr was deranged. I 
wonder not they thought so. Straight-forward ho- 
nesty — self-devoted patriotism, must have been so 
incomprehensible to men, who were incapable of be- 
ing swayed by any other than selfish motives, as 
very naturally to connect the idea of insanity, with 
one, who, in his generous exertions for the good of 
others, forgot himself. 

On the 26th, Gov. King published the following : 

BY HIS EXCELLENCY SAMUEL WARD KING, 

Governor, Captain General, and CommanJer-in- Chief of the State 

of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and 
"Providence Plantations did, on the twenty-fifth day of June 
instant, pass the following act, viz : 

AN ACT ESTABLISHING MARTIAL LAW. 

Be it enacted by the Generat Jlssembli/, as follows : 
Sec. 1. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 
is hereby placed under martial law ; and the same is declared to 
be in full force until otherwise ordered by the General Assembly, 
or suspended by proclamation of his Excellency the Governor of 
tlie State. 

I do, therefore, issue this my proclamation, to make known the 
same to the ijood people of this State, and all others, that they 
may govern themselves accordingly. And I do warn all persons 
against any intercourse or connection with the TRAITOR 
THOMAS WILSON DORR, or his deluded adherents, 
now assembled in ;irais against the laws and government of this 
State; and admonish and command the said Tliomas Wilson 
Dorr and his adherents, immediately to throw down their anna 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 261 

and disperse, that peace and order may be restored to our suffer- 
ing community, and as they will answer the contrary at their 
peril. Further, I exhort the good People of the State, to aid and 
support, by example and by arms, the civil and mi!it;iry authori- 
ties thereof, in pursuing and bringing to condign punishment, all 
engaged in said unholy and criminal enterprise against the peace 
and dignity of the State. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of said 
State to be affixed to tiiese Presents, and have signed 
the same with my hand. Given at the City of Provi- 
[l. s.] dence, on the 26th day of June, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and forty -two, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America to sixty 
sixth. 

SAMUEL WARD KING. 
B}'' his Excellency's command: 

Henry Bo wen, Secretary of State. 

The Algerines here commenced the course of ab- 
surdities which afterwards distiiiguised all their 
movements. Martial Law was declared by the Le- 
gislature, a body of civil functionaries ; and this is, per- 
haps, the only instance in which Martial Law was ever 
known to be declared by the Legislature of any 
State. The Students were dismissed from Brown 
University, and the college buildings were appropri- 
ated as barracks. Armed guards paraded the streets 
constantly ; and, in violation of the Constitution of 
the United States, and of all right, commenced their 
series of house-breakings and insults. Doors and 
windows were burst in by these armed ruffians ; 
locks were broken, or forced open ; private apart- 
ments were entered without leave, or notice ; and, 
not imfrequently, half dressed, or undressed females, 
were dragged forth with mockery and insult. Many 
of those engaged in committnig these outrages, held 
high places in the church. Ministers, deacons, and 
church members, invaded the houses of their fellow 
commtmicants, and the bonds of christian union 
were violently broken. Others held commissions, 
and were receiving salaries, from the civil depart- 
ments under the United States, but no check with- 



262 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

held any from the prosecution of these wicked de- 
signs. Neighbors trespassed on the social right ; 
christians forgot the privileges of christians ; and 
men the rights of men. 

Sometimes it was said that Mr. Dorr Avas coming 
with a powerful force in some steamboat ; when, 
with great terror, all flew in that direction ; then, 
that he had landed in Massachusetts, and arrived in 
Woonsocket, where it was stated he had commenced 
throwing up works of defence. Scouts, spies, and 
expresses, were sent in that direction ; every move- 
ment was turned towards that quarter, and the most 
intense exitement prevailed. 

On the 23d, Gov. King issued his orders to the 
military, to hold themselves in readiness to take the 
field at a moment's warning. On the 24th a steam- 
boat was ordered to the south part of the State, to 
transport the troops from Warren, Bristol, and New- 
port ; and on the afternoon of the same day, the 
boat returned, bringing in three companies of artil- 
lery, and seven pieces of brass ordnance, six pound- 
ers. The boat was again despatched down the Bay 
on the 25th, and continued the transportation of the 
forces, which wer6 pouring in from all parts of the 
State. A company of Sea Fencibles, composed of 
Mariners, and numbering 65 men, was formed. They 
were to have the care of the great Paixham gun, a 
thirty-two pounder, and an iron twelve pounder. A 
company of Carbineers was also formed, consisting 
mostly of young men from Rhode Island, then resi- 
dent in New York. They were armed with Colt's 
six barreled repeating carbines. On Saturday morn- 
ing, June 25th, the act passed the Legislature, plac- 
ing tlie State under Martial Law ; and on Sunday 
morning, the 26th, guards were posted at all the 
avenues leading into the city, and in Market Square. 
The streets were densely thronged with the military 
and citizens, and War became the sole topic of dis- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 263 

course. Thus a formidable array of more than 3000 
troops was concentrated at Providence, of which 
Wm. Gibbs McNeill Avas appointed Major General, 
who entered directly on the duties of his office, tak- 
ing up his Head (Quarters at the Tockwotton House. 
His first military orders were issued, June 25th. On 
the 27th the banks were closed by order of Gov. 
King, and their business discontinued for the week ; 
and on the same day the Mayor issued the following : 

MAYOR'S PROCLAMATION, 

CITY OF PROVIDENCE. 

In the present emerg-ency, the Mayor directs that the following 
regulations be obsevved in the city. 

All persons not on patrol or other duty, are to retire to their 
houses at 10 o'clock at night, at which hour all shops must be 
closed. 

Persons wishing to leave the city, will call at th'e Mayor's of- 
fice, or upon some officers authorised by the Governor 1o give 
them, and no person can cross Seekonk River after 8 o'clock, P. M. 

Permits are not required for persons leaving in railroads and 
steamboats. 

All persons are positively prohibited from assembling in large 
groups after dark, and it is specially urged upon parents, to keep 
at hoQie their children and young persons under their charge 
after dark. • 

Citizens are requested to hold themselves in readiness for fa- 
tigue duty in throwing up entrenchments. 

^In case of an alarm of fire, the POLICE COMPANIES will 
assemble immediately at their alarm posts under arms. Citizens 
are urged to repair to the fire to aid in working the engines, but 
groups of idlers will not be permitted in the neighborhood of any 
tire. 

In case of an alarm of fire, the citizens will immediately place 
lights in their windows. 

All persons are cautioned not to attack or insult any patrol or 
guard, such offences will be severely punished. 

If any person is injured by the patrol, let him apply to th« 
Mayor for redress, the patrols and guards must be obeyed. 

While the undersigned regrets the necessity of imposing unu- 
sual regulations, he informs the citizens that they must be com- 
plied with for the protection of our lives and property. 

THOMAS M. BURGESS, Mayor, 

Providence, June 27th, 1842. 

The Mayor requests all persons who do not intend to be with 



264 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

the military, to assembly at the GREAT BRIDGE to-morrow 
morning, (this day) at 6 o'clock, with pick axes, shovels, crow- 
bars, &c., to throw up redoubts when needed, at the outskirts of 
the city. 

The Legislature under the People's Constitution, 
stood adjourned to meet on the 4th day of July. To 
avoid, if possible, a collision with the old Govern- 
ment, it was determined to meet in some country 
town, where, if the enemy should attack them, they 
could make a better defence. The village of Che- 
pachet, in the town of Gloucester, 16 miles west 
from Providence, and within 8 or 10 of the Connect- 
icut line, was selected, as affording the most accessi- 
ble means of defence, in case of an attack. On 
Wednesday, the 22d of June, some few of the offi- 
cers and men assembled at the place, and commenced 
arrangements in advance of the meeting. Their 
numbers increased daily, and they continued gather- 
ing in arms, and began fortifying Acote Hill, on the 
east side of the road, perhaps a hundred rods south 
of the compact part of the village. Some forty or 
fifty years since, the body of a man by the name of 
Acote, and who was supposed to have been murder- 
ed, was found here, which gave rise to the name. 
An entrenchment was thrown up, covering the road 
on the southeast, south, and west ; and six pieces of 
cannon were mounted, which could be brought to 
bear in those directions. The situation in which the 
party stood, and the circumstances under which they 
were called together, being considered, it could not 
be expected that much order or discipline should be 
found in the suffrage ranks. The whole camp pre- 
sented a scene somewhat like many which occurred 
during the revoliuionary struggle. 

Gov. Dorr arrived in the village on Saturday, the 
25th. He established his Gtuarters at Gen. Sprague's 
Hotel, and on the same day issued the following : 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. '265 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 

A PROCLAMATION, 

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE SAME. 

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution I 
hereby convene the General Assembly, which was adjourned 'to 
meet at Providence on Monday the 4th of July next, at the town 
of Gloucester on tlie same day, for the transaction of such busi- 
ness as may come before them. 

And I hereby request the Towns and Districts, in which vaca- 
tions may have occurred, by the resignations of Representatives 
or Senators, to proceed forthwitii to supply the same by new elec- 
tions, according to the provisions of the Constitution. 

Given under my hand and the seal of State, at Gloucester the 
25th day of June, A. D. 1842. 

THOMAS WILSON DORR. 

GENERAL ORDERS. 

Head Quarters, Gloucester, R. I. } 
June 25th, 1842. J 

I hereby direct the military of this State, who are in favor of 
tlie People's Constitution, to repair forthwith to Head Quarters, 
there to await further orders ; and I request all volunteers and 
volunteer companies so disposed, to do the same. 

It has become the duty of all our citizens who believe that the 
People are sovereign, and have a right to make and alter their 
forms of government, now to sustain, by all necessary means, 
the Constitution adopted and established by the people of this 
State, and the government elected under the same. The only 
alternative is an abject submission to a despotism, in its various 
practical effects, without a parallel in the history of the American 
States. I call upon the people of Rhode Island to assert their 
rights, and to vindicate the freedom which they are qualified to 
enjoy in common with the other citizens of the American repub- 
lic. I cannot doubt that they will cheerfully and promptly re- 
spond to this appeal to their patriotism and to their sense of jus- 
tice ; and that they will show themselves in this exigency to be 
the worthy descendants of those ancestors who aided in achiev- 
ing our national independence. v 
THOMAS W. DORR, Governor, 

and Commander-in-Chief, 
By order of the Commander-in-Chief, 

William H. Potter, Adj. General. 

At this time there were probably 1000 men in the 
village, destitute of arms ; and in the encampment, 
about 300 armed and equipped, not including those 
23 



266 ' MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

who manned the batteries. Reports were current, 
that the enemy contemplated an attack, which were 
discredited by many, believing they designed nothing 
more than the defence of Providence. Sunday 
morning the roads were filled with people, on foot 
and in carriages, pressing on to the village from every 
direction. Thousands were not permitted to enter, 
being stopped by the guards, until the roads were, 
for miles, blocked up with carriages. This state of 
things continued through the day. Several promi- 
nent men of the Suffrage party arrived during the 
day, who, at an interview with Gov. Dorr, endea- 
vored to dissuade him from his purpose ; but he was 
still unyielding. Information which could be relied 
on had been received, which left no doubt that or- 
ders had been issued that morning, by Gen. McNeill, 
(who was comfortably quartered at the Tockwotton 
House,) for the government forces to be put in mo- 
tion. Their disposition of attack was by forming 
three divisions, the first commanded by Col. Wm. 
W. Brown, was ordered to Chepachet, via Green- 
ville ; the second, under Col. Josiah H. Martin, was 
directed to take the road north, through Woon socket ; 
and the third, under Col. Swan, proceeded to Che- 
pachet by the way of Scituate. The Volunteer Po- 
lice corps in Providence, were organised for the pro- 
tection and defence of the city, under the name of 
the City Guards. The third Brigade, under Gen. 
John B. Stedman, was composed of the Third, 
Eighth, and Eleventh Regiments, belonging to the 
south part of the State, together with a considerable 
number of volunteers. The Kentish Guards, under 
Col. Allen, the United Train of Artillery, under Col. 
Bradford Hodges, the Carbineers, imder Captain 
Olney, the Pawtucket and Central Falls Volun- 
teers, under Captain Potter, were stationed at Paw- 
tucket, and the Pawtuxet Artillery, were post- 
ed at Pawtuxet. The plan of operations of the 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 267 

Charter Government, was to concentrate a consider- 
able portion of their forces in front of Mr. Dorr's 
Camp at Acote, by marching detachments to Che- 
pachet, by different routes. Another object was to 
throw in a strong force between the Connecticut 
line, and the encampment, in order to cut off the 
retreat of the Constitutionists in the rear. As pre- 
liminary to this, the Third Brigade, Gen. Stedman, 
was marched towards Foster, where, with the 
Fourth, under Gen. Greene, it could form a chain of 
posts in the rear of the Suffrage Party. Col. Mar- 
tin's regiment was marched to Woonsocket, Monday, 
June 27th, at 10 o'clock, A. M. They were to have 
been followed in the afternoon by the Sea Fencibles ; 
but some mistake occurred about transportation, and 
that corps was detained till Tuesday morning. On 
Sunday, Col. Brown's regiment took up their line of 
march for Chepachet, via Greenville; a detachment 
of which took the road by Fruit Hill ; and the regi- 
ment of Col. Swan marched on the same day to 
Scituate ; also the Third Washington Brigade, un- 
der Gen. Stedman, took the road through Foster. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE PRISONERS. 

It may be asked why, in view of all these diffi- 
culties, why Mr. Dorr did not think best to abandon 
all further proceedings ? Reasons did exist for this ; 
and they were weighty. A failure in the first at- 
tempt did not afiect the question of right involved 
in the principle ; and the Chief Magistrate was of 
too sanguine and determined a character, either to 
believe that his friends would abandon him, or that 



268 MIGHT ■ AND RIGHT. 

success was impossible. How should he believe that 
those '^who had voted for their own freedom," 
would sell that freedom for a mess of pottage ; or 
that they would not be ready to rally round the Con- 
stitutional standard, in its defence ? Accordingly, his 
orders were issued, and repeated, to all the towns in 
Providence County, for the military friendly to the 
Constitution, to repair forthwith to Head Quarters ; 
but to his utter astonishment, and inexpressible cha- 
grin, so feeble was the response, and so meagre was 
the gathering, that only 225 armed men were found 
in the Constitutional ranks, at Acote, on the 27th, 
the day of the disbandment. , This was a sad falling 
off from the numbers who had been pledged to sus- 
tain him. These were represented to be more tlian 
1,300 ; and a rumor also reached Mr. Dorr, that 500 
men, under arms, Avere already at Chepachet. Of 
the 3,500 who voted for the Constitution at Provi- 
dence, but 35 men, and 10 officers, came forward to 
sustain it ! A new panic had seized them. They 
declared that all they wanted had been obtained, in 
the call which had been given by the Charter As- 
sembly, of a Convention to frame another Constitu- 
tion. Many of Mr. Dorr's friends in Providence, had 
signed a paper, stating that they denounced his pro- 
ceedings, as no longer to be ''tolerated." 

The Chartists held possession of all the available 
means in the State. The keys of a full treasury 
were in their hands ; and the funds were lavishly 
expended. They had the money, the popularity, the 
power of Rhode Island, and the sword of the United 
States, to sustain them ; but still, so long as the 
Constitutionists held up their heads, and showed 
themselves men, by boldly asserting their rights, 
they dared not very deeply trespass. But the mo- 
ment they gave symptoms of doubt, and misgiving, 
and fear, the cowardly foe gathered courage, and 
swaggered furiously. The proportion of the Char- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 269 

tists to the Suffrage men, was as eighteen to one ; 
and that of the three divisions which were sent 
against Chepachet, was as eleven to one. 

In yiew of these discouraging circumstances, a 
council of officers was held on the morning of the 
27th. They saw that the cause was repudiated by 
almost all of its former friends — hundreds of whom 
were daily taking up arms in the ranks of their op- 
pressors, to be used against a cause, which they had 
so solemnly pledged themselves to support. They 
had assembled in arms to sustain a Constitution 
which had been formed by the will of the majority ; 
and, as they confidently expected, to be sustained by 
that majority. But contrary to this, their majority 
had deiiounced them to the enemy, and thus deprived 
them of the Constitutional right to resist further. 
They saw before them a handful of men, ready to 
immolate themselves on the shrine of Liberty — 
ready to seal with their heart's blood, the word of 
truth they had pledged, to support their beloved 
Governor. Their post was destitute of a supply of 
water. They had provisions sufficient only for one 
day. The quantity of balls for the artillery pieces, 
would have been exhausted in an engagement of 
fifteen minutes. They acted wisely. They acted 
justly. They could not see the sacrifice of so much 
self-devotion. Thomas Dorr was never more a hero 
than when he gave the order to disband. That was 
his crowning act of nobleness. He knew the oblo- 
quy that would be heaped upon him, and he dared 
TO MEET IT ; and he has met it, with an uncowering 
dignity — a complete manlmess — which has robbed 
slander of her deadliest fangs. But no language can 
portray the feelings of his men, when this order was 
made known to them. They felt that they were not 
overcome by their enemies, but by their friends; 
and, in their unutterable anguish, strong men wept. 

Let the world judge whether Gov. Dorr acted 
23* 



270 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

right. He was '^ in arms for all, in the name of all/' 
to sustahi the rights of all, and not to advance the 
interests ol a party. From the will of the majority 
he had received his power to act. That will had 
been his law ; and when it was withdrawn, how 
could he act legally in opposition to it? Or how 
could he act rightfully, in the sacrifice of the self- 
devoted few, who were still willing to sustain him ? 
It is not strange that the arms fell from his hands, 
when he saw himself arrayed in opposition, not only 
to his foes, but to his friends. It is true the great 
principle remained the same ; and so it would have 
been, had every man turned traitor ; but when the 
people of Rhode Island had shown themselves un- 
willing to receive their freedom, had their Governor 
a right to force it on them ? I think not. I speak 
here entirely without regard to the merits of the 
question of withdrawal from the support of the Con- 
stitution, and only in relation to the overt action, the 
outside facts of the case ; for Mr. Dorr, having no 
right to suppose that the private opinion of his late 
friends was contrary to their expressed opinion, was 
bound only to act upon the latter. That opinion 
did act upon him, with all the force of truth. By it 
he was surrendered to all the deadly persecution of 
his enemies — to the influence of a spirit more blood- 
thirsty, more deeply venomous, than perhaps has 
ever been manifested, towards any individual in mo- 
dern times. He has dared all this — he has borne 
all this, with the heroism of a great soul, without 
mitigation, and without complaint. Upon his single 
head have been poured out the seven vials of wrath — 
the whole concentrated anger and hatred of his ene- 
mies ; yet he has been always firm ; for his anchor 
has grappled deep beneath the everlasting rock of 
Truth and Right. 

A huge outcry has been raised against the Consti- 
tutionists, as has been before said, and they have 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 271 

been called by many ugly and wicked names, such 
as the '^ Butt-Enders," '' Fag-Enders," "The Rab- 
ble," ''The Mob," "Incendiaries," "Pirates," 
"Cannibals," and "Worse than Cannibals;" and, 
in terms perhaps still more detracting, the "Dor- 
mouse Party ;" while their character and intentions 
have been made to square with these titles, which 
are singularly expressive of the refinement, and hon- 
esty, of those who coined them. But words are 
words ; and facts are quite other than they. One 
fact stands uncontroverted — and it has been pub- 
licly asserted by a Charter lawyer of high repute — 
that no single instance of the invasion of private 
right, has ever been sustained against any individual 
of the Suffrage Party. One single trespass was com- 
mitted ; but prompt compensation was rendered. 
Many slanderous falsehoods were, indeed, put in cir- 
culation, concerning what the Suffrage men were 
going to do ; but no one can show a single outrage 
that they did do. If they were, as they have been 
represented, why did not the Chartists prove it ? 
They had the public purse, the public sword, all the 
influence and popularity of the clerical and legal 
professions — the countenance of all the State offi- 
cers — the cases prejudged in their favor ; and all 
"appliances and means to boot" — and they have 
shown nothing — they could not show anything, 
for if they could, they would have done so. In 
those scandalous stories were fore-shadowed the real 
intentions of the Algerines themselves. They drew 
the black picture from their own black hearts. The 
" sacking of Providence" was but a type and sym- 
bol of the "sacking of Chepachet." But with how 
very ill a grace should these accusations come from 
men, in whose ranks theft, robbery, and burglary, 
were common crimes ! But they continue to make 
these assertions, with audacity which nothing can 
subdue, and that in the very face of the evidence 



272 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

that they have done, what they say the Suffrage men 
would have done. But they are the lords parmount. 
They stand above censure, and beyond question. 

The victory over the Constitutional Fort at Acote, 
has been made the subject of the weakest and silli- 
est exultation. Let us come near enough to see, 
and try how well this point can be sustained. The 
division of the Charter forces nearest Providence, at 
Greenville, must have received the order to advance 
from Head (Quarters at Providence, as early as 9 or 
10 o'clock on Monday evening, when the news of 
the disbandment must have reached them ; for they 
began to capture the Constitutional troops, on their 
return home ; and by these, if not at an earlier date, by 
their own scouts and spies, they must have been in- 
formed of the truth. Yet the division was not put 
in motion until the next day, and they did not reach 
Chepachet until a quarter before eight, thirteen hours 
after the disbandment. And the gallant Colonel also 
took care to ascertain that the picket guard of only 
20 men, stationed below Chepachet, had been with- 
drawn, before he ventured to move. It is supposed 
that the officers kept the secret of the disbandment 
entirely to themselves, and that the men knew no- 
thing of it ; and this accounts for the fact, that, 
when approaching the village, and hearing the artil- 
lery pieces discharged — as they were by some gen- 
tlemen who went into the camp after its desertion — 
so many of the brave Algerines fainted away. The 
Suffrage men are said to have shown a want of spirit 
in leaving Chepachet ; and their disbandment has 
been stigmatised as flight ; but what shall be said of 
an army of 2 or 3000 men, under experienced offi- 
cers, well armed and equipped, with thirty field 
pieces, and surgeons enough to take care of them, if 
every man was wounded, who yet shrink from at- 
tacking 22.5 men in an untenable position, and such 
as the Constitutionists are described to be ? Look at 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 273 

the following specimen of empty boasting, equally 
false and ridiculous, in one of the general orders of 
the day. 

" Orders No. 54. Head Quarters, &c., June 28th, 
1S42. — The village of Chepachet, and fort of the 
insurgents, were stormfd at a quarter before eight 
o'clock, this morning, and take?i, with about one 
hundred prisoners, by Col. William W. Brown ; none 
killed — none ivou7idedy 

Yet the fort, when they arrived there, was as 
empty as their own boasting. Not a single man in 
arms was found in it. The return of only half a 
dozen of the Suffrage men to Woonsocket, on the 
evening after the disbandment, caused such an alarm 
to the Algerine forces stationed there, as to occasion 
the getting up and rehearsal of ^ real "farce." It 
seems that on Monday evening, sentinels were sent 
out about two miles from the village, to the top of a 
high hill, to discover, if possible, any movement of 
the Dorrites, and report with all possible despatch. 
About 10 o'clock two men were discovered at some 
distance, on foot, and coming towards Woonsocket. 
The brave sentinels, filled with terror, took up their 
line of march, running their horses at the top of their 
speed, to give warning to the Algerines, who were 
snugly esconced at Woonsocket. A call to arms was 
instantly given, and the troops fled with all possible 
expedition, falling back towards Mannville, a village 
some four miles distant, and Woonsocket was left 
without a soul to defend it, except women. On 
finding that no invading foe had arrived, they were 
ordered by their commanding officer back to Woon- 
socket ; and on Tuesday morning they re-entered 
the village, with as much pomp, though on a small 
scale, as was displayed by Napoleon on entering 
Paris, after his return from Elba. The Chartists 
have certainly, throughout the contest, displayed 
''the better part of valor," in an eminent degree; 



274 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

nor are some of the Suflrage officers entirely without 
claim to this praise ; and, in strict justice, they should 
have their due. 

But I must return to the sacking of the village. 
On the arrival of the Charter troops, two or three of 
the Suffrage men, together with three gentlemen 
from Boston, were engaged in removing the cannon 
from the hill ; and they had succeeded in getting all 
down but two. One of these men, Mr. Lord, stood 
just before the battery when Col. Rivers came up, in 
great agitation, and pointing towards the fort, asked, 
in tremulous tones, '' Will they fire ?" '' No," re- 
plied Mr. Lord, there is nothing there, but two can- 
non, and they are empty; go and take them." At 
that moment Mr. L. saw two of the Suffrage men 
just over the brow of the hill ; and he Avaved his 
hand for them to escape, which they did. Upon the 
strength of this assurance. Col. K.ivers ascended the 
hill ; and, waving his hat, gave theee cheers, and 
took possession. The main body then appeared, 
slowly advancing ; and they soon came up to Mr. 
Lord, who had stopped at the south side of the road, 
and there awaited their approach. As they came 
near, he said, ^' Gentlemen, I surrender myself a 
prisoner of war. On perceiving him, they cried out, 
''Shoot the d'n'd Rebel!" "Cut him down!" 
"Down with the Traitor!" "Shoot him." After 
much cowardly abuse of an unarmed man, who had 
surrendered himself to their mercy, they commenced 
searching him. Several seized him at once, and al- 
most tore him limb from limb, Avhile one presented 
two pistols at his breast, and another a musket at his 
back, threatening instant death. During the scuffle 
a Providence gentleman came up, recognised Mr. 
Lord, called him by name, and afforded him protec- 
tion. He should be known, for merciful Algerines 
are rare as comets. His name is Thomas J. Stedman. 
Let that name be held in remembraace, as it ever 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 275 

will be by the grateful man whom he so generously 
served. The column then moved on until they 
came in front of Gen. Sprague's Hotel. Some of 
the party rushed into the house, and a scene of con- 
fusion ensued, in which the cries of " Shoot 'em 
down ! Shoot 'em down !" were continually kept up 
by the Algermes. Some one fastened the front door, 
shutting in a considerable number of the Charter 
soldiers, along with some unarmed citizens of the 
place, who had been attracted by the gathering. An 
effort was made by those on the outside to break 
down the door ; but, finding that impossible, Mr. 
John T. Pitman fired through the key-hole. Mr. Hol- 
brook, of Boston, called out to him, ^' For God's sake 
do not fire ; you may kill some of your friends. " Just 
as the piece discharged, he cried out, in great excite- 
ment, '' I don't care a G'd d'n, if can only kill some- 
body!" It seems really providential, that no one 
was killed, by this rash and murderous act. One 
man was shot in the thigh, and another very nar- 
rowly escaped. The bullet itself has been preserved. 
It will be sent to Boston, where it will be kept to 
illustrate the Rhode Island Algerine Spirit of 1842. 

Gen. Sprague being a Suffrage man, was consid- 
ered by these marauders as lawful prey. The troops 
took possession of his house and effects, appropriating 
to themselves whatever they chose. In the follow- 
ing fact is found a solution of their cowardice and 
their insolence. While at Mr. Sprague's house, 
>vhich time was somewhat less than two days, they 
disposed of 37 gallons of Brandy, 29 gallons of West 
India Rum, 34 flasks of liquor, 1 1-2 doz. bottles of 
old Madeira, 1 1-4 Sherry Wine, 12 doz. Champagne, 
2 doz. Cider, 940 glasses of liquor at the bar, and 
more than $100 worth of liquor beside, delivered by 
Gen. Sprague's brother. And such accounts can be 
found on the books of all houses where they quar- 
tered. Much has been said of the hardships and 



276 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

privation which the Charter troops endured ; yet it 
is well known that the treasury of the State was at 
their command, and that their whole course was 
but a series of carousals, and drunken riots. There 
is but one excuse for many of their acts ; and 
that is found in the amount of liquor drank. It is 
a poor excuse, that of drunkenness ; but it is all they 
have. While they remained at Gen. Sprague's, the 
valiant Chartists seldom asked for a pie, or a pitcher 
of water, without presenting a cocked pistol, or a 
leveled bayonet, and this even to females. Nor 
would, they go into the cellar, or to any remote part 
of the premises, unless escorted by a strong guard of 
the servants of the house. They broke much glass 
and crockery, carried off cutlery and wooden ware, 
and injured the house and furniture shamefully. On 
their departure, bits of fat meat, lumps of butter, 
pieces of cigars and tobacco, with fragments of al- 
most every eatable thing, were trodden into the car- 
pets, where they had been lodged, when the gentry 
of Rhode Island amused themselves by throwing such 
missiles at each other. They also wiped their greasy 
fingers on the curtains, and got into nice beds with 
boots and armor, carrying with them pieces of ham 
and greasy meat. Such were the manifestations of 
Rhode Island " Law and Order." In addition to all 
these spoils, they consumed and wasted of Mr. 
Sprague's property, 820 bushels of oats, 17 tons of 
hay, 50 bushels of corn, 16 bushels of meal, 1-4 of 
a ton of rye straw, and 11,500 cigars, and much 
other property. There were 2,400 meals charged ; 
yet there must have been hundreds, if not thousands 
more, eaten, of which no account ever was made. 
And for all this outrage, insult, and injury. General 
Sprague has never been able to recover anything. 
He strove to obtain some redress from the Algerine 
Legislature ; but they considered him as lawful spoil, 
and refused all compensation. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 277 

The prisoners, numbering about 130, were marched 
to a barn, under a strong guard, and there kept. Af- 
ter the troops had taken their rations, the fragments 
were swept into barrels, and carried to the prisoners. 
The latter were removed on Tuesday night, to the 
loft of another building ; and the Algerines, mean- 
while, had been busy in their work of pillage. They 
robbed and plundered, indiscriminately, all who 
were, or who were reputed to be, on the Suffrage 
side. The history of these depredations, alone, 
would more than fill the book I am writing ; and I 
must defer the details until I have a wider space be- 
fore me, than I now have. It may be observed, 
however, that they went systematically about this 
business, as if it had been a part of their general or- 
ders ; and it is more than suspected — it is pretty 
well known — that there was an understanding on 
this point, between officers and men, and that the 
value of the spoils had been held out as an incentive 
to join their ranks. Such would appear to be the 
fact, from the following testimony ; or, at least, that 
the men claimed the right of plunder, as one of their 
perquisites, whether it was openly sanctioned by the 
officers, or not. 

'' I reside in Chepachet, town of Gloucester. On 
the afternoon of Tuesday, June 28th, 1842, while 
the Algerine troops were in possession of the village, 
two or three men came into my store. One of them 
stepped up to another person who was in the store, 
and told him that the Bristol Company had made a 
fine haul, as he expressed it, that day. They had 
just found a large amount of valuable property in a 
building, I think a barn ; that one of the articles was 
a fine two-barreled gun, which he thought was worth 
forty dollars — and that the Bristol Company would 
make a very profitable affair of their trip to Che- 
pachet, much more so than any of the other Compa- 
nies ; that ' our Newport Company,' as he. expressed 
24 



278 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

it, had been too negligent, and it stood them in hand 
to be more active, in order to secure their share. This 
was said in a manner that appeared as if he felt 
vexed at the better success of the Bristol Company 
in obtaining plmider. 

''CLOVIS H. BOWEN." 

On Tuesday, at 9 o'clock, A. M., food of the same 
kind as before, was again brought to the prisoners, 
who, for the most part, rejected it. They were then 
brought out, and tied, eight together, with ropes 
Avhich the Algerines had stolen. The captives were 
then paraded opposite Sprague's Hotel, and kept 
there standing, unsheltered, for nearly two hours, in 
an intensely hot sun. Many of these men had not 
taken up arms at all, but had merely been attracted 
to the village from curiosity. The Daily Chronicle 
of June 30, had the following paragraph in relation 
to the prisoners, and their capture. 

" The scene was a rich one ; pen is inadequate to 
a description of it. The prisoners seemed to be as 
wretched and God-forsaken a body of men, as we 
ever saw. They were tied together, like a parcel of 
sheep ; and their appearance indicated anything but 
a consciousness of their forlorn condition. These 
men are guilty enough, Heaven knows ; but how 
much more deeply, damnably so, must be those who 
incited them to outrage ! That punishment will fall 
upon all, is certain. May it prove an useful lesson." 

I pity the man who wrote that paragraph. There 
is a cold-blooded ferocity in it, a brutal insensibility, 
I never saw equalled. There is no need of any out- 
ward hell for such spirits. The malignant elements 
of their own nature, would produce a deeper Inferno, 
than the most orthodox imagination ever painted. 
The Suffrage Party, as has been before said, were 
mostly yeomanry, mechanics, and laborers ; and 
when the alarm sounded, and their liberties were in. 
danger, they flew to the rescue, in their common la- 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 279 

boring apparel. Their appearance was no-wise im- 
proved by toil, and sweat, and dust, by being bonnd 
with ropes, and driven like beasts through the public 
highways, sufi^ring the meanwhile of" hunger and 
thirst, until their unspeakable anguish was nearly 
passing into despair. And were they God-forsaken ? 
Does God, then, cast a man out from his protection, 
because his garments are homely, or even soiled and 
torn ? Those prisoners were honest men. They had 
not learned the game of fashionable bankruptcy, by 
which the Rhode Island Algerines, almost without 
exception, (for they are one great body of bankrupts) 
have supplied themselves with fine houses, fine fur- 
niture, fine carriages, and fine broad-cloth, from the 
fruits of UNPAID LABOR ; and did God forsake them 
for this ? Will he not rather cast out from his pre- 
sence the fashionable Vampire that fattens upon the 
life of the poor ? Those 130 God-forsaken prisoners, 
were afterwards tried by creatures of the Chronicle's 
own party ; and they were, almost to a man, acquit- 
ted. So much for truth. 

The barn where the prisoners were kept, had been 
occupied by a baker. It was stripped of everything ; 
barn and carriage furniture, and every removable 
thing ; and the whole village was sacked. When 
the prisoners were searched, everything was taken 
from them, penknives, pencils, money, and watches. 
Some objected that such was private property ; but 
nothing was given back on that account. 

On the way to Providence, the Algerine victors 
stopped frequently for food, and milk, which they 
stole, or rather took by robbery, from the farm houses 
as they passed along ; but the poor prisoners, faint, 
weary, bruised by the ropes, and almost heart-broken 
as they were, were not always permitted to receive 
drink from the brooks, that were fed by the free rain 
of Heaven ! Because, their arms being pinioned be- 
hind them, they could not help themselves, and, of 



280 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

course, the lords must be first administered to ; and 
by the time they had finished, they were in a hurry 
to go ; and with their parching thirst unsatisfied, 
the prisoners were marched on, beneath a sun of al- 
most torrid heat. 

Soon after leaving Chepachet, they fell in with an 
old colored man, who was very lame, walking qui- 
etly by the road side. They threw away the poor 
old man's cane, tied his dog to a wagon, and giving 
him one of the muskets they had stolen, compelled 
him to march beside the prisoners, as a guard. The 
Church at Greenville had been used for barracks, 
during the sojourn of the troops at that village ; and, 
on their return, they marched the prisoners into the 
desecrated fane, and stopped for rest and refresh- 
ment. Here the prisoners were again offered food, 
of which some of them partook, but others were too 
full to eat ; but they got some water, and by this 
were relieved of their dreadful thirst. 

After halthig an hour, they were marched off again. 
When they arrived at Tripptown, an accident oc- 
curred, which came very near producing a fatal re- 
sult. By the accidental discharge of a pistol, one of 
the flank guards was wounded in the thigh. He fell 
to the ground, and, at the same moment, several 
others of the Algerines, whose valor has been so 
highly lauded, fell, also — having -fainted away, or 
taken it for granted that they were dead men. This 
produced an intense excitement. All the array of 
surgeons were called into action ; and it took some 
time to find out who was the wounded man. The 
re-action of their fears, produced anger of the most 
passionate and deadly character. The discharge of 
the pistol was laid to the prisoners, although they 
were bound eight together, and had the use of neither 
weapons nor hands. An order was given to fire upon 
the d'nd Rebels ; and they would have been shot 
down, without further inquiry, had not a woman, 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 281 

who had been attracted by the procession, witnessed 
the accident. She called out for them to stop, and 
then explained how it happened, and thus saved the 
lives of the prisoners. 

It should not be forgotten that these 130 prisoners 
were bound with ropes, eight together, their hands 
being pinioned behind them. There was a contin- 
ual wrenching, one way and another, from uneasi- 
ness and pain, as well as from a constant struggle of 
each man to avoid the rough places in the road, and 
get the best path for himself to walk in. The 
Rhode Island slaves (so their savage captors suppos- 
ed,) had been brought under the yoke, years before ; 
and their necks had been pretty well bowed ; but 
they had never been broken to the harness, and they 
were restive, when that harness galled. If any one 
lagged behind for an instant, he was pricked with 
the bayonet, or a pistol, or musket, was leveled at 
his head or breast. In addition to all this physical 
discomfort, hunger, thirst, bruised feet, and arms, in- 
tolerable fatigue, and almost broken hearts, every 
kind and degree of insult and abuse was continually 
heaped upon them, which evil spirits under the in- 
fluence of evil spirits, could invent — insult and 
abuse such as no man ever otfered to man, whatever 
might be his condition ; for the wretch who can in- 
sult a fallen foe, is a libel on the character, and a dis- 
grace to the name of man. 

On reaching the city the prisoners were halted, 
first, opposite to the Hoyle tavern, when a new ac- 
cession of blackguard ruffianism appeared ; and a 
law and order mob, continually increasing, escorted 
the procession through the streets, with hooting, and 
hissing, and all foul and inhuman abuses. They 
were halted again opposite Col, Brown's residence, 
and, in various other places ; and the lady-Algerines 
waved their handkerchiefs, and threw flowers to the 
24* 



282 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

conquering heroes, in the greatest profusion, from 
every window, and terrace, as they passed along, 
thus acknowledging themselves indebted for all their 
remaining virtue, to the triumphant defenders of 
^' Banks and Beauty" — a band of filthy, drunken 
licentiates ! Oh, Modesty ! where was then thy 
blush ? And Truth, and Justice, where were your 
defenders? Led in cruel bonds by wicked men, 
through the city of Roger Williams, and the fair 
hands of woman garlanding their brutal captors. If 
there ever was a time to be ashamed of Rhode 
Island — ay, with the deepest, sincerest shame, that 
ivas the hour. This conduct of the Algerine women 
is hardly to be excused, in any way. Whatever 
might have been their political sentiments, the sight 
of tlie prisoners — men, their neighbors and friends, 
and,* in many cases, near relatives, driven through 
the streets, bound with ropes, amid cruel insults, and 
bitter curses, should have subduced their animosity, 
and caused a reaction of feeling — and icotild have 
done so, if every single particle of the true nature of 
woman, had not been crushed by a passion so mon- 
strous, that it is difficult to believe the female breast 
could have harbored it. Many of these women are 
said to have practised pistol shooting, in order, I 
suppose, to defend their honor against Thomas Dorr, 
the wholesale violator ; and murderous wishes, and 
expressions, were not unfrequently on their lips. All 
history proves that woman naturally inclines to the 
side of mercy ; and that without question of whether 
the sufferer was friend, or enemy, or right, or wrong. 
The conduct of the female Algerines of Rhode 
Island, presents a mortifying contrast to this charac- 
ter — a monstrous deformity in the fair proportions 
of woman. 

And these men, to the eye of the Chro- 
nicle, had no '' sense of their forlorn condition ?" 
Tliat is not to be wondered at : for the Rev. Dr. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 283 

Wayland had just begun to discover traces of " deep 
feeling," and, of course, it would not do to go be- 
yond a Doctor of Divinity. 

At the head of College street another halt was 
made, and orders were given to load with dou- 
ble ball cartridge ; and an understanding was con- 
veyed to the men, that they were to be taken round 
back of the Colleges, and SHOT. This capped the 
climax of brutal depravity. Many believed they 
were to be shot, and some boys, and young lads, 
could not forbear crying aloud in the intense agony 
occasioned by the idea of a cruel and unnatural 
death. 

When the tortured nerves had been wrung to their 
utmost tension, the captives were marched over to 
the prison, so exhausted, so worn out, that cmij shel- 
ter was welcome. They were crowded in together, 
from 12 to 14 in a cell of 7 feet by 9, with an aper- 
ture 7 inches long and 4 wide, the only opening for 
the admission of air. No tongue can tell — no im- 
agination can paint — the horrors of that prison. 
Think of it ! 14 men occupying a space of 7 feet by 
9, in that oppressively hot weather, and breathing 
that putrid air ! Eleven of the 14 could just lie 
down, wedged in together, ''heads and points," as 
they expressed it ; and then the remaining 3 had 
just, and only room enough to stand in. It is very 
hard to be crowded at all, when one is tired ; and 
think of those harrassed, faint, and jaded men, lying 
in that manner, on the bare pavement ! It is horri- 
ble ! But the worst of all was, the perfectly foetid 
air ! 

Much fault has been found with Dr. Brownell, the 
Surgeon General, and much hard feeling towards 
him still exists. He made great exertions to have 
the prisoners removed to the yard, and the cells 
thinned out * but in this step he was violently op- 
posed by the Mayor, Thomas M. Burgess, as well as 



284 " MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

by the Governor and Council. He, however, repu- 
diated the authority of the Mayor, and went to the 
mihtary commander, who sanctioned his plan of re- 
moving the prisoners to the yard, and making them 
more comfortable. As there has been much misre- 
presentation in regard to the conduct of this gentle- 
man, I feel it a duty to place the circumstance in its 
true light ; and I do not hesitate to say, that though 
Dr. Brownell may sometimes have failed in his duty 
— for in the service of such a bad cause who could 
do wholly right ? — still there is the fullest evidence, 
that had it not been for his humanity and persever- 
ance, on this occasion, in thinning out those noisome 
cells, previous to the hot night which followed, the 
morning would have found dead as many of the suf- 
ferers, in proportion, as were found in the Black 
Hole at Calcutta ! How well, and truly, this speaks 
for the humanity of Rhode Island Magistrates, under 
Martial Law ! Is not Algiers disgraced and scandal- 
ised by lending them her name ? 

A guard of loafers from South Water street sur- 
rounded the prison ; and whenever the prisoners ap- 
peared, or their friends visited them, they were sub- 
ject to the insults and abuse of the whole gang. 

Much has been said of the fare of the prisoners, 
for, and against. I will endeavor to state the truth. 
They had two meals a day, one at ten o'clock, the 
other at three. Their fare consisted almost wholly 
of bread and ham. These were, for several weeks, 
the fragments of the Algerine carousals. The 
weather was very hot, and the ham was often offen- 
sive, sometimes maggoty ; and the bread was some- 
times sour, and frequently mouldy. And even this 
was served in the most offensive manner ; a piece of 
bread, and one of ham, being passed in at the aper- 
ture of the door with the hand, and received hy the 
hand. The regular prison fare was somewhat bet- 
ter. The prisoners must have suffered not only from 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 285 

had food^ but for the want of food, if their friends 
had not supplied them ; and some who had no 
friends to think of them, would beg for the stinking 
ham and mouldy bread — the rations of their more 
fortunate companions. But seldom were such for- 
gotten ; the more fortunate were ready to share with 
the less ; and all who visited the prison on these er- 
rands of mercy, were the friends of the friendless. 

The organization of the Court of Commissioners, 
who tried the prisoners, was the most singular mock- 
ery of justice I ever heard of. Neither the officers, 
or any of the witnesses were sworn ; and no man 
felt himself particularly obliged to speak the truth — 
an obligation which would, indeed, have been quite 
novel among the subjects of modern Algiers. The 
prisoners were arrested by a military, and tried by a 
civil process — or arrested by a civil process, under 
Martial Law. Any prominent individual among the 
Algerines, could control the fate of any prisoner he 
pleased ; and when the prisoner refused to recant, at 
the instigation of his rich neighbor, or employer, the 
influence of the latter would react against him. Dur- 
ing examination, the prisoners were not only har- 
rassed and insulted, by the Algerine loafers who al- 
ways attended on such occasions, but, contrary to 
all usage, they were obliged to be their own accu- 
sers. And, not only so, but any person among the 
spectators might volunteer his evidence, and that 
evidence, if against the prisoner, (and no other could 
be found in that den of devils,) would be taken; 
and a decision affecting the liberty, the comfort, the 
health, perhaps the life of a worthy individual, might 
depend upon the false assertions of any malicious 
scoundrel who might happen to have a grudge 
against him ! Hundreds of prisoners were commit- 
ted, imthout any alleged reason, or any legal process ; 
and after being subjected to all these msults, morti- 
fications, and suflerings, for months, liberated m the 



286 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

same manner. It was dangerous to speak an honest 
opinion against the party in power ; and many were 
committed for doing so ; and even upon the bare sus- 
picion of friendliness to the Suffrage cause. 

h\ Bristol Jail, the prisoners suffered exceedingly 
for the want of water, as they did also at Provi- 
dence ; the water at both places being conveyed in 
leaden pipes, and so warm, as to be almost a vomit. 
One of the Bristol prisoners told me his sufferings on 
this account were so severe, that he offered to give 
20 dollars for a pail of water ; and though he was 
able to pay, and perfectly honest in his offer, they 
refused either to sell or give, one absolutely suffering 
for it, and his wretched companions a brink of cold 

WATER. 

In Newport, the prisoners in the lower cells suf- 
fered dreadfully from cold. These lower cells were 
damp and dark — so dark as to require a lamp at 
mid-day, in order to read a common book — and so 
damp, that all substances like cloth were continually 
saturated with moisture ; but they had no fire, or 
worse than none, until some time late in December. 
The autumn had been very cold ; and that was the 
coldest December that had been known for many 
years. A benevolent lady visited Gov. King, and 
informed him of the disgraceful fact. He immedi- 
ately ordered Henry Y. Cranston to visit the prison, 
and report on the subject. He did so, after making 
a delay of several days, in order, I suppose, to wring 
out a little more suffering ; and then he never de- 
scended to the loioer cells. He asked the prisoners 
above, how they were, in regard to warmth. They 
answered they were quite comfortable, as respected 
warmth : and Mr. Cranston made his report, which 
was published in the Journal. But by a fortunate 
accident, the members of one of the State Courts, 
then in session at Newport, visited the prision, and 
ascertained the truth. They immediately sent for a 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 287 

thermometer, and found, by actual experiment, that 
the air was colder within the cells, than on the out- 
side of the prison. This was owing to the strong 
current, which was created by the stoves m the cor- 
ridor adjoining. They would have perished — they 
must have perished, had it not been for the kindness 
of the citizens, who sent them hot drinks, and a 
plenty of warm food ; and also lamps to burn day 
and night, that the cheering light, and slight warmth, 
might, in some degree, alleviate the sufferings of 
those miserable men. Their food was better than at 
Providence, and it was, perhaps, sufficient to sustain 
life ; but they never had enough to satisfy the crai-)- 
ings of hunger of ordinary appetites. 

Is it not strange that such gross outrages upon the 
rights of humanity, should have been committed in 
the face and eyes of the whole world, and so little 
have been said about it ? A whole political party, 
either openly advocated, or resolutely shut their eyes 
upon the facts ; and where were the Abolitionists, 
the professed philanthropists of the North, that they 
did not enter their protest against these proceed- 
ings ? 

If a band of colored men had been marched 
through the streets of Providence, under the sa7ne 
circumstances all New England would have been in 
a blaze. I have yet to learn, that black men are 
better than white men, or that their rights are any 
more sacred ! 



288 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

OUTLINES OF HISTORY. 

During the June Session of the General Assem- 
bly, a report reached that body, that a very large 
force was gathered at Acote Hill, for the purpose of 
sustaining the People's Constitution. According to 
their established mode of operation, that of relin- 
quishing their usurped power only upon compulsion, 
the Convention was immediately convened for the 
purpose of framing a Constitution, and the work was 
pushed through in such a manner, as to occasion se- 
veral mistakes. The Constitution was finally adopt- 
ed, by the Convention assembled at Newport, in 
Septem.ber, 1842 — a law having been passed, sanc- 
tioning its adoption by a minority ; and this after 
the Legislature had repeatedly denied their right to 
move in the matter ; that they could do nothing 
without the authority of their constituents. It is a 
curious fact, that, after all their ridicule and contempt 
of the People's Constitution, the learned and sapient 
Landholders should have made it the model of theirs ! 
and, in fact, have taken it almost entire, only modi- 
fying some of its most important provisions, so as to 
keep the power still in the right place. Here is an- 
other presumptive evidence that the Chartists be- 
lieved that the people had a majority of votes for 
their Constitution, or why were they at so much 
pains to assimilate their own to it ? They ivould not 
have been, had they not considered that Constitution 
popular. They certainly had sufficient invention ; 
and they embodied a large amouht of learning and 
talent. Why did they not produce an original doc- 
ument? The reason why is very evident. The 
People's Constitution had been adopted by a large 
majority ; and, of course, whatever came nearest to 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 289 

that^ would be most likely to succeed. Accordingly, 
with some very delicate incisions, and some masterly 
corrections, which were insinuated into the work so 
softly, as to alarm none but the practised eye, the 
People's Constitution was again given to the world. 
I cannot enumerate all the objectionable points, 
but will name a few of the chief dangers embodied 
in the present Constitution. 

1. The majority, 57,196, are entitled to but 6 Se- 
nators, and 39 Representatives, while the minority, 
51,642, are entitled to 25 Senators, and 39 Repre- 
sentatives. 

2. Foreigners and colored men, if they be free- 
holders, are allowed a vote after a residence in the 
State of one year, while a free native citizen of the 
United States, if he be not a freeholder, must have 
resided in the State two years, before he can vote. 

3. It excludes Firemen and R evolutional y Sol- 
diers. 

4. The People's Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 2, pro- 
vides not only for the possession, but the transmis- 
sion of property ; a right which is said to be guarded 
so well, in no other American Constitution, On this 
the freeholders are silent, notwithstanding they have 
had so much loud talking, and so much fine writing, 
about the Rights of Property, and their destined vio- 
lation by the Suffrage Party. 

5. Section 4, of the same Article of the People's 
Constitution, contains this provision ; '' That no fa- 
vor or disfavor ought to be shown in legislation, 
towards any man, or party, or society, or religious 
denomination. The laws should be made not for 
the good of the few, but of the many; and the bur- 
dens of the State ought to be fairly distributed 
among the citizens." The Freeholders are again 
silent. The idea of legislating for the good of 
the many, would have been the height of ab- 
surdity, to a Convention, Avho, from sheer habit, 

25 



290 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

as well as principle, could do no otherwise than act 
for the minority, leaving the rights of the majorityj 
to take care of themselves. In all the proceedings^ 
of all her councils, legislatures, and courts, Rhodec 
Island has always acted with regard to the rights of 
the FEW — and that not unfrequently, to the utter: 
exclusion of the rights of the many. 

6. Section 12, of the People's Constitution, gives: 
the accused, in criminal prosecutions, power to ob- 
tain witnesses at the public expense, that the poverty 
of the accused may be no barrier to the free acces- 
sion of justice. This has not been secured in the 
corresponding section of the Landholders'. 

7. The Landholders' Constitution does not secure 
the right of trial b)^ j^ny, to " Any person in this 
State who may be claimed, or held to service imder 
the laws of any other State." 

8. It does not recognise the right of instructing 
Senators and Representatives by the people, as does 
the People's, Section 17. This Section corresponds 
with Section 16 of the Protest of 1790. The re- 
jection of this important right by the Freeholders, 
seems to show that the Representatives are not to do 
the loill of the People^ but their own will : or, in 
other words, to act according to the dictates of their 
especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, 
according to Charter usage. Thus have the Rhode 
Island Republicans of 1842, refused to recognise a 
very important principle, and cut off a long-cherished 
branch of old English Liberty. Is this an evidence 
oi. pi^ogrcss ? 

9. It does not provide that compensation sliall be 
actuall^r made, if required, before a man's property 
shall be taken for public uses. 

10. It does not prohibit the passing of retrospec- 
tive civile as v/ell as criminal laws. 

11. It does not protect witnesses from being called 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 291 

ill question for their religious opinions, before the 
Legislature, or the Courts. 

12. In Article 2, Section 2, of the Landholders' 
Constitution, a blank is left for the future insertion 
of the word " Whiter Their first Constitution 
contained the word^ without any special provision for 
its speedy rejection, as did the People's ; nor is it to 
be presumed that they ever intended to reject it. 
But when they found themselves in a fearful minor- 
ity, and knew that their injured fellow citizens were 
proceeding to demand their rights at the point of the 
bayonet, they then saw that some concessions onust 
he made ; and, in many respects, their second Con- 
stitution is far mcTre liberal than their first ; but 
whatever it is, is not due to them, but to their fears. 
In this dilemma they took advantage of the situation 
of the colored population. Without one particle of 
friendliness towards the colored race, but from sheer 
necessity, they extended to them a valuable privi- 
lege, reserving by legal enactment, the right to with- 
draw it at any time they pleased, merely to promote 
their own selfish and wicked purposes. They made 
the colored men voters, not because it was their 
right, but because they needed their help, and when 
they no longer need it, a law is all ready, to provide 
for the disenfranchisement of the tools, for which 
they have no further use. If I could reach the ear 
of every colored man who has voted under this Con- 
stitution, I would tell him that he is a dupe — that 
he knows not his enemies ; that by the very terms 
of his admission to the right of Suffrage, he is chat- 
telized ; and that he is the victim of treachery of 
the blackest dye. 

The Chartists have preached pro-slavery in Wash- 
ington, and anti-slavery in Rhode Island ; and at the 
very time when Senator Simmons was inflaming the 
prejudices of the Southern Democt'ats, by represent- 
ing the Free Suffrage as an Abolition movement, his 



292 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

friends at home were parading the streets with their 
own coachmen, and sitting at table with people of 
any color — and the darker the better. So com- 
pletely have they worn two faces, and spoken with 
two tongues, in order to secure the favor of both 
parties, that, even here, in Rhode Island, many of 
the hard old farmers in the neighboring towns, iHll 
not believe that colored men vote in Providence. 
There is a degree of meanness in this conduct, which 
I really cannot comprehend ; and how any body of 
men, possessing the smallest idea of honor, to say 
nothing of honesty, could submit to practice it, is 
truly wonderful ! 

13. The Landholders' Constitution unnecessarily 
retains a freehold qualification ; probably for the 
same cause that Mr. Randolph wished to retam the 
privilege of the oldest son — not because he saw any 
reason in favor of it, but because it had existed so 
long. 

14. It does not provide for the security of the in- 
estimable right of voting by ballot, as does the Peo- 
ple's, but refers the matter to the Legislature. 

15. The crowning objection of all, is, that it se- 
cures all its former authority to the General Assem- 
bly, by special enactment, ai^d thus nullifies many 
otherwise wholesome provisions. The good which 
It holds out is illusive, as recent events have fully 
shown. The present Constitution of Rhode Island 
was announced by Gov. King to be adopted, Janu- 
ary 3d, 1843. 

July 4th, 1842, the festival in honor of the late 
Algerine victory, was superadded to the usual cele- 
bration. The orator — one of the most distinguish- 
ed lawyers in the State — exhausted all his elo- 
quence to prove that the Algerine army, in their late 
brilliant victory over an empty Fort — in their 
drunken carousals, their burglary and kidnapping, 
were a band of heroes, of a high and peculiar order , 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 293 

to be found only in Rhode Island ; inasmuch as they 
were " covered all over with glory^^ — a condition in 
which I never heard any other heroes described to 
be. The orator spoke of the pleasure he felt in ad- 
dressing the '' Old Rhode Island Line," on an occa- 
sion like this, when they had just proved themselves 
the true descendants of those who first made that 
line glorious. The anniversary was a double one ; 
and showed that the same great principles which 
had been asserted and vindicated in the war of the 
Revolution, had been again asserted and vindicated, 
on this soil, within the last week. In the war of the 
Revolution, our men marched against oppression 
from above — from the King and Parliament. In 
the late insurrection, their descendants arrayed them- 
selves against oppression from below — from the out- 
casts and ruffians of society, both here and abroad. 
In describing the Suifrage men, he said ; '^ They are 
cannibals, and worse than cannibals — and had 
they taken one of you, they would have roasted your 
body alive, and devoured it.''' It is certainly to be 
regretted that a man of so high intellect, should 
have descended to echo the malicious falsehoods, 
and retail the low slang of the Journal, even in the 
service of a party. 

July 5th, it was announced that no more arrests 
should be made, under the existing martial law, ex- 
cept upon application to the Governor, or his Coun- 
cil. Soon after the conquest of Chepachet, the Al- 
gerines celebrated the victory, and marched in pro- 
cession through the streets. The procession was 
led by a cart, bearing an effigy of Gov. Dorr, a pair 
of old boots, and some epaulettes, which were falsely 
said to have been his ; and various other trophies. 
This carriage bore the banner which had been taken 
from one of the Woonsocket companies, the motto 
of which was a singularly unfortunate one for the 
Agerines to parade through the streets, as a speci- 
25* 



294 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

men of their enemy's principles. It was this ,- •"- We 
concede to others their^ rights ; we demand our 
OWN." They carried also in the procession a load of 
empty champagne bottles, which they said they had 
found in Dorr's camp, but which had been emptied in 
their own carousals, while they were snaking a mani- 
festation through the country.''''^ It should not be 
forgotten, that when the fire engines were left al- 
most without a man to direct them, the colored 
MEN came forward, and volunteered to take charge 
of them ; and this act, the condition and treatment 
of the men being considered, was one of the noblest 
that were developed during the whole controversy. 

On the morning of the 30th of June, between the 
hours of 12 and 3 o'clock, with a small squad^ 
Col. Wm. P. Blodget, went to the nm of Jeremiah 
Crooks, in Bellingham, Mass., broke into the house,, 
and demanded to see his prisoners. Mr. Crooks 
asked him by what authority he came ; and he said 
''by the authority of the bayonet." They then 
searched the house, and forcibly carried off and drag- 
ged to prison, several men who Avere supposed to 
have been engaged in the aifairs of Rhode Island. 
For this flagrant violation of the laws of Massachu- 
setts, and the rights of her citizens, Blodget has been 
tried and found guilty of burglary and kidnapping. 
*EIe has, however, petitioned for another trial before 
the Supreme Court of the United States. 

August 21st, a special Thanksgiving was pro- 
claimed ; upon which occasion were called forth the 
two famous sermons of Drs. Wayland and Tucker, 
of Providence. I cannot here go into the individual 
merits of those sermons, as I could wish, and as I 
hope at some future time to do. They both contain 
the grossest misrepresentations of the Suftrage Party, 

* The commandinor officer wrote from Woonsocket, " iVe 
think it best to make a manifestation through the country, and 
may not be back in some days." 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 295 

of their principles, and their conduct ; and are redo- 
lent with pure, unmixed Tory doctrines — such doc- 
trines as tend to keep alive, and increase, the exist- 
ing inequalities of society, and, consequently, secure 
to the priesthood their peculiar privileges ; not such 
doctrines are those as Jesus preached — doctrines of 
universal love and brotherhood, wherein is the es- 
sence of the purest and the "largest liberty," but 
rather such as might more properly come before the 
Court of a Pagan Despot, than before the audience 
of a free and christian people. This point was, of 
course, managed more adroitly by Dr. Wayland ; 
but not the less false and wicked were his misrepre- 
sentations, and his sentiments ; while Dr. Tucker, 
with peculiar artlessness, declares, that had the In- 
surgents succeeded, '• We should have become 
' hewers of wood, and drawers of water.' "* He 
further represents that the specific objects of the Suf- 
frage Party, were the destruction of the Priesthood, 
and the Banks, and the leveling of Property ; three 
points which were calculated to alarm the selfish- 
ness, and inflame the grossest passions of his hearers ; 
and much pains was taken to identify the Suftrage 
and Abolition movements. These two sermons 
were in the same spirit with the " Affairs of Rhode 
Island," by Dr. Wayland, delivered May 22d of the 
same year ; and " Loyalty and Piety," by the Rev. 
Francis Vinton, Pastor of Trinity Church, Newport, 
July 21. I regret that I am not able here to con- 
sider more at length the productions of these " Kna- 
vish and wicked Doctors, who understood neither 
what they said, nor whereof they affirmed, and who 
turned aside to vain janglmg." The compass of an 
ordinary book will not permit me to go at length, 
either into the merit of these sermons, or into the 
history of individual persons, and places, many of 

* Did the Reverend Doctor ever question v/ith himself of his 
pecuYmi- Jitness for such labor ? 



296 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

M'hich contain some o[ the most important and inter- 
esting particnlars ; but, in justjce to myself, and my 
subject, I hope to be permitted to give them more 
fully on some future occasion.* 

At the time when the Charter troops left Newport 
for the defence of Providence, a conspiracy was 
formed, which has never been exceeded in wicked- 
ness, even by the Jacobins of France. It is thus 
described by a correspondent from that place. 

'•A number of men, heretofore called respectable, 
formed themselves into a band, and bound them- 
selves, under an obligation, that if any of their friends 
should be injured in the campaign against the ' Re- 
bels' at Providence, they would shoot down, or as- 
sassinate, their leading men in this town, in the 
streets, at their homes, in their beds, or wherever 
they could find them." This conspiracy was made 
known to one of the leaders of the Suffrage Party, 
to put him on his guard against these horrid machi- 
nations. The person who made this communication, 
was a strong friend to the Martial Law and Order 
Party, and was applied to, to join in this wicked 
conspiracy ; but he, having some private friends and 
relatives among the leaders of the Suffrage Party, 

* There are now in my possession a large collection of very 
valuable documents, which have been furnished by Suffrage 
friends, and which I have been wholly unable to dispose of in 
this volume, as they are amply sufficient to make a volume of 
themselves. Being- unwilling to manifest any partiality towards 
these friends, who have my grateful acknowledgments for their 
kind exertions in my behalf, and being unwilling to injure their 
papers by mutilation, I have resolved to retain the whole, that, in 
their collected form, they may make a volume of themselves; 
which they Avill amply do, in connection with tiie incidental re- 
flections, and kindred events, that the Author may think proper to 
combine with them. I trust no one will bo dissatisfied with this 
arrangement; since it ivas impossible to do justice lo the whole. 1 
have, however, sought to embody all the important facts in this, 
and I hope to give them another interesting and valunble book, 
containing, in full, the Annals of the R,hode Island War; and 
when the Public calls for it, it shall be rtadx). 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 297 

refused to join. He might have been mflnenced by 
some other selfish views; otherwise, from his char- 
acter, we do not think he would either have divulged 
the secret, or refused to join the conspiracy ; which 
consisted, as far as we could learn, of ten or tw^elve 
men. Many of their names are known, and they 
are also known to have prepared themselves with 
their weapons of destruction. The Rev. Francis 
Vinton entered warmly into all the military prepara- 
tions of the Algerines. Several of the members of 
his own church were among the consjiritors ; and 
yet they were, then, and are, now, in full fellov/- 
ship with the church. This same Reverend gen- 
tleman, when the Newport soldiers found their 
courage 'oozing out at their finger ends,' encour- 
aged and stimulated them, advising the officers 
not only to take the men with their muskets, 
but to take their field-pieces, with plenty of ammu- 
nition ; he also assisted the soldiers in making their 
ball-cartridges, cheering them on to the combat, to 
shoot down their fellow citizens. People were ut- 
terly astonishe<i to see such a knowledge of military 
tactics displayed by this clerical empiric, and many 
wondered where he obtained it ; but it was soon ex- 
plained, by the information that he had been edu- 
cated as a Cadet at West Point, at the expense of 
the Government, and had been an officer in the 
army until about the time of the breaking out of the 
Florida war, when he was suddenly taken conscien- 
tiously scrupulous, about shooting down the poor 
Indians, so doffed his military uniform for the cleri- 
cal robes ; and yet, under this sacred garb, he could 
urge men forward to destroy their fellow citizens, 
while he himself remained behind, enveloped in his 
robes, in perfect safety. This reminds me of the old 
fable of the monkey using the cat's paw to pull the 
chssnuts out of the fire." 

The conduct of the clergy in relation to the Suf- 



298 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

frage movement, is deserving of the highest repre.- 
hension. At first, when the question was considered 
popiilar, and carried all before it, the clergy, who are 
always awake to catch every breath of popularity, 
openly and publicly sanctioned it, by their presence, 
and their prayers. I have now before me the Re- 
cord of proceedings of the Convention, that met to 
form the People's Constitution, and I find that no 
less than eight clergymen, seven of whom belonged 
to Providence, offered prayers for their success, all of 
whom afterwards turned against the people ; and 
several of whom, including Messrs. Dowling and 
Hall, and Dr. Tucker, became their most bitter and 
uncompromising enemies. It was frequently boast- 
ed by the Algerines, that the clergy were all on their 
side ; and this exultation must have been highly 
flattering to those reverend gentlemen, in connection 
with the memory of their former course. Notwith- 
standing the active part they took in encouraging 
the Algerines to Vv^ar, and kindling their turbulent 
passions, and despotic spirits into a flame, the Jour- 
nal describes them as '' Messengers of peace," and 
lauds their conduct, as being " in the highest degree 
creditable, and serviceable to the cause of good gov- 
ernment and regulated liberty." And, further, it is 
asserted in the same print, that the clergy took a 
firm stand against the disorganisers ; upon which 
was based the following pithy resolution : '' Whereas, 
the Clergy of the Revolution took a firm stand in 
favor of popular rights, the leaders of the Suffrage 
Party feel that an impression must go abroad, that 
there is something vitally wrong in their movement, 
since the clergy, in a body, as the servants of God, 
and instructors of souls, consider themselves called 
upon to exhibit themselves agamst it." Such praise 
from such a source, must have been very grateful ; 
and yet there is more truth in it, than at first would 
appear. Such is the thraldom in which people are 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 299 

held by their spiritual guides, that there is not, per- 
haps, one ill ten who would be capable of judging, 
or dare to judge, contrary to the opinion of his min- 
ister ; and, of course, the fact that the clergy were 
generally opposed to the Suflrage movement, would 
be presumptive evidence of the wrongfulness of that 
movement. How much, then, have the clergy to 
answer for, in the part which they have taken ! 

Where the Clergy led the van, the Church, of 
course, would not be far behind ; and the excommu- 
nication of members for a difference in political sen- 
timent, became of frequent occurrence ; and such 
members were always dealt with in the most hasty 
and arbitrary manner. I will give only two cases of 
this kind, although there are details enough of eccle- 
siastical discipline, in such cases, to fill a volume. 

In Providence, Col. Franklin Cooley, a worthy 
member of the Pine street Baptist Church, of which 
the Rev. John Dowling is pastor, was expelled from 
that church in a manner Avholly unprecedented in 
the annals of Sectarian Christianity. Col. Cooley 
was in town within four days of the time when the 
vote of exclusion was passed, and a steady attend- 
ant on all the ordinances of the church ; but at the 
time when it loas passed, he was in New York ; and 
the first notice he received in the matter, was the 
intelligence, by a letter from a friend, that he had 
been tried, and condemed, 15 days before. The 
charges preferred were, that Col. Cooley had accept- 
ed of an office under the People's Constitution ; (that 
of Representative) and that he had also acted as a 
member of a committee to procure arms. The first 
charge was true ; the second was wholly false. But 
even if both the charges had been true, the proceed- 
ing was wholly unjustifiable, and contrary to all 
usage in the Baptist Church. So far from being ZX\ 
advocate of war, Col. Cooley is, conscientiously, op- 
posed to the use of violent means, even for the at- 



300 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

tainment of right ends ; and he has not owned, or 
had in his possession, any instrument of death — 
too many of Avhich could be found in the houses of 
members of this same excommunicating church. It 
was not from a love for the pure doctrines of the 
gospel, that the church thus cast out a brother ; for 
quite a number of its members, not excepting some 
of its deacons, went forth with the implements of 
death in their hands, to shoot down their brethren. 
But I will write no more, lest I spoil the excellent 
paper which Col. Cooley himself has prepared on the 
subject, and which, I hope, at some future time, to 
present in the whole. 

The other instance I shall mention, is that of the 
excommunication of Deacon Sanford Bell, and Geo. 
C. Shaw, who were jointly expelled from the Second 
Baptist Church in Newport, " for their unchristian 
conduct in relation to the late troubles in this State." 
This ^' imchristian conduct," it may be proper to 
state, consisted chiefly oi feeding the prisoners in 
Newport jail. So far were Shaw and Bell from be- 
ing willing to assist m any forcible measures, that 
though they knew they were marked as victims by 
the conspirators before mentioned, they did not even 
take any measures to defend themselves from 
THREATENED ASSASSINATION, or their families from 
"assault, trusting in God, alone, for protection and de- 
fence. A more high-handed and arbitrary measure 
than these two, never disgraced the christian church 
in any age. 

I copy from the letter of a correspondent at that 
village, the following : 

ACCOUNT OF THE AFFAIR AT PAWTUCKET. 

" On the evening of June 27, at half-past 6 o'clock, 
the Kentish Guards (so called) arrived here from 
Providence, for what purpose it is impossible to say, 
since no people in the world could behave in a more 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 301 

quiet and peaceable manner, than the citizens of 
Pawtucket had done, up to the time of the arrival of 
the Kentish Guards. Indeed, all of the citizens who 
favored the cause of the people, had been, for some 
days, gone up to Acote Hill, taking with them all 
the guns, ammunition, and implements of war, 
which could be obtained anywhere in the vicinity. 
In truth, it may be said, that, at the time of the ar- 
rival of the Algerines, not a weapon of any descrip- 
tion whatever, could be found, except in the posses- 
sion of the Algerines of the place. But no sooner 
did the Charter soldiers arrive, than the displeasure 
of the citizens announced itself at once, on the Rhode 
Island side, by the hissing of the boys, and other 
unequivocal signs of anger ; and on a quarrel com- 
mencing between some unarmed citizens and the 
Pawtucket Algerines, the soldiers undertook to quell 
it by the use of the bayonet. This only increased 
the disturbance ; and one of the '' Law mid Orders^'' 
had his bayonet wrenched from his gun, and came 
near having it put into his own body. The Kentish 
Guards were now called upon to the aid of their 
companions, who were threatened by the unarmed 
men, some of them belonging on Massachusetts side. 
On this accession of force, the unarmed men retired 
into Massachusetts. 

"After this took place, the Kentish Guards were 
stationed with fixed bayonets across the streets, at 
two places. For some time they did not interrupt 
people who travelled the street, but at length a dif- 
ferent system was adopted, and a citizen of Paw- 
tucket, Mass., who wished to carry a friend into Rhode 
Island, was fired upon by the Kentish Guards. He 
had not been stopped, nor was any attempt made to 
stop him, and nothing was said to him, or done, until 
after he had passed the guard, when he was fired 
upon, but fortunately he escaped unharmed. Up to 
this time, about half-past eight, there had been no 
26 



302 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

bloodshed, although people on both sides of the river 
had become highly excited. About 9 o'clock in the 
evening, the Kentish Guards took up their position 
on the line between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 
having previously insulted and abused men, and even 
women^ who were quietly passing the bridge into 
Massachusetts. A crowd very naturally collected on 
the Massachusetts side of the line, to look at these 
illustrious warriors ; and, while so engaged, they 
were fired upon, and Alexander McKelby, who was 
in the act of shaking hands with a friend, was shot 
through the body, and killed. He was a peaceable, 
quiet, industrious man, and left a wife and seven 
children. David Cutting Avas wounded in the arm, 
and Robert Roy shot through the knee. All of these 
unfortunate men were on the Massachusetts side of 
the line ; and being there, were wantonly and un- 
provokedly fired upon by the self-called " Law and 
Order ruffians of Rhode Island ; and to this day their 
blood is unavenged. A more rascally and unpro- 
voked murder and assault upon unarmed citizens, 
was never heard of! What right, or pretence of 
right, had these drunken ruffians to fire into Massa- 
chusetts ? And be it not forgotten, that they crossed 
over the line ; and, standing on Massachusetts soil, 
killed and wounded citizens of that state ; ay, and 
to the eternal shame of Massachusetts, no atonement 
has ever been made, or offered. 

" The firing dispersed the croAvd, but the excite- 
ment among the people of Massachusetts was in- 
tense ; and, could arms have been procured, dearly 
would the black-hearted ruffians have paid for their 
atrocious deeds." 

August 29th, the pageant of the Sword present- 
ation took place. A committee of ladies presented 
Lieut. Col. Nightingale, of the Marine Artillery, Col. 
Martin, of the National Cadets, and Col. Brown, of 
the First Liglit Infantry, each with a splendid sword. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 303 

as a compliment to the gallant defenders of their 
wealth, and their honor. An immense crowd was 
gathered on the State House Parade, to witness the 
imposing ceremony ; and just at the moment of the 
presentation, a large bird was seen, hovering majes- 
tically in the air above. Many believed it to be an 
eagle ,• and the idea of our national emblem — so 
unwonted a guest in this region — appearing at that 
time, and on that occasion, created no small degree 
of excitement, and a bright omen was drawn from 
the circumstance. But the Charter Braves, and their 
fair allies, were so overpowered with self-satisfaction, 
that their vision was affected thereby, and they could 
ill nowise see clearly, beyond the shadow of their 
own dignity ; hence a very simple and natural mis- 
take. The bird was 7iot the bird of Jove, but simply 
a GULL ; and the Algerines are welcome to the omen. 

September 10th, the anniversary of Perry's vic- 
tory, a similar scene was got up, and a banner was 
presented, with the following inscription : '' Present- 
ed by the Ladies of Providence, to the Kentish 
Guards, for their patriotic service on the 18th of 
May, 1842 — guard the gift as you did the givers." 
This, too, was in token of their marvellous escape 
and preservation, from pollution and violence ; and 
in the motto, '' Guard the gift as you did the givers," 
a wicked and malicious falsehood is embalmed for 
history. It cannot be that those ladies were quite 
so weak and silly, as to believe they really had been 
in such danger from the Suffrage men, if their bro- 
thers, husbands, and lovers, did tell them so ; nor is 
it easy to believe that they ^vould sacrifice all wo- 
manly delicacy, by taking such means merely to pro- 
duce an effect ; but it does not redound much to 
their credit, either way. They have acted very 
foolishly, or very falsely, or both. 

A grand militia muster was held on the same day 
with the Banner Presentation. It went off, not 



304 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

without much drunkenness, noise, and rioting. How 
unhke was this to all the Suffrage celebrations, which 
were always characterised by sobriety and good or- 
der ; and, for this reason, that when even common 
men are sincerely in earnest, in a good cause, they 
rise above their former level, and become assimilated 
to the high motive which has been made their spring 
of action. A female in passing home, in the even- 
ing, was assaulted, and slightly injured. She was 
mistaken for another lady, whose kindness to the 
victims of oppression, had excited the indignation of 
the Algerines. 

At the Commencement dinner of Brown Univer- 
sity, the following stanza was sung, with unbounded 
applause. 

"We once knew Greek — now, trochees sweet, 

Of each old attic line, 
Are changed for Dorric feet, more fleet 

Since Auld Lang- Syne." 

Even the classic beauty of this production could 
hardly justify the members of a high literary insti- 
tution — and one, too, that professes to be founded 
on christian principles — in making the occasion of 
their social anniversary an opportunity of sneering at 
any individual, but especially at one, whose honestij 
of intention it was impossible to doubt — by any 
candid observer of his actions — and whose misfor- 
tunes, at least, should have shielded him from the 
assault of christians. If Mr. Dorr were not wilfully 
guilty, then was that sneer both wickedly malicious, 
and contemptibly mean ; but if he xverey ridicule, 
and public abuse, are not among the proper means 
which christian divines, and their adherents, should 
have taken to admonish him ; and, in doing so, they 
descended even below the assumed level of him they 
traduced. 

September 6th, a request was renewed to the 
Mayor, for the Suffrage Association to be permitted 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 305 

again to hold meetings in the Town House. This 
request was promptly refused, without consulting the 
Board of Aldermen, or the City Council ; and the 
Association afterwards continued to hold their meet- 
ings in the Washington Hall. 

August 8th, Martial Law was suspended until 
September 1st ; and on the 11th of the same month, 
Mr. Hoskins, a citizen of New Hampshire, was ar- 
rested. This flagrant violation of individual and 
State rights, was not exceeded by any during the 
whole controversy. Mr. Hoskins had been to Che- 
pachet, to procure a carpet bag containing the pri- 
vate papers of Gov. Dorr, and was just going to 
depart, but finally thought he would call on Mr. Si- 
mons, the Editor of the Herald. Accordingly, he 
left the carpet bag at the Depot, and proceeded to 
the Herald office. He was apprehended either on 
his way, or directly after he got there, and taken to 
Hazard's office. The Justice had begun to get a 
warrant ready, but, fearing to be too late, despatched 
the Deputy Sheriff without one, and Mr. Hoskins 
was arrested, examined, and committed, before the 
warrant was made out against him. Directly upon 
his arrival at Hazard's office, Mr. Hoskins sent for a 
friend, Mr. Bradley, but he was not permitted to 
leave the room ; and even the friends who came to 
his assistance, were made, for the time, close prison- 
ers. Mr. Hoskins also sent for Gen. Carpenter, who 
took occasion to speak of the law, and asked Mr. 
Hazard, if the prisoner had not been arrested without 
a warrant. He acknowledged that he had. Gen. 
C. then urged that he should be set at liberty. Mr. 
Hazard replied, very pettishly, " / donH care a d^d 
for the letter of the law ! It is time the law Avas re- 
solved into its original elements !" A fine specimen, 
this, of a Law and Order Magistrate ! 

Mr. Hazard then sent for Gov. King, and Ex-Gov. 
Arnold. They refused to have anything to do with 
26* 



I 



306 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

it ; but thought he had a right, as Justice of the 
Peace, to arrest him. When the carpet bag and 
trunk, whicli had been sent for, arrived from the De- 
pot, Mr. Hazard asked Mr. Hoskins, if he had any 
objection to their being opened. He, of course, ob- 
jected. After a good deal of parley, Hazard con- 
cluded to have Mr. Hoskins' own private trunk 
opened by force ; saying, *' I will take the responsi-' 
bility." Accordingly, he put his hand in the pocket 
of Mr. Hoskins, who was advised not to resist, and 
wresting from him the key, proceeded to remove the 
articles from the trunk. He found some letters, and 
called in several persons to help read them. He was- 
very fierce, arrogant, and saucy in the extreme. 
They continued the examination until nearly sun- 
down, but found nothing that could be construed 
into treason ; when Mr. Hoskins was committed 
toithout a warrant — although Martial Law was sus- 
pended — and kept in prison several days. The Al- 
gerines who came in were very abusive ; many of 
them saying he ought to be hung! And this is the 
way we treat peaceable citizens from other States, 
I cannot forbear exclaiming with Judge Pitman,, 
though from quite a dilFerent point of view ; " Who 
will not, hi future, be ashamed to hail from Rhode 
Island?" 

The question of whether it was best for the Suf- 
frage Party to register their names under the Alge- 
rine Constitution, began to be agitated about this 
time ; and after much consultation on the subject, 
and application to distinguised individuals for advice, 
it was judged best to do so. In taking this step, 
they distinctly declared, that they did not repudiate 
either their Constitution, or their Principles, but they 
had adopted this course, as an indirect way to estab- 
li^i their Constitution, and sustain their principles. 
Tliey knew that a majority of the people of the 
State were in their favor, and through the ballot-box 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 307 

they hoped yet to be triumphant. So manfully did 
they come up to this work, that the Algerines began 
to be alarmed for the result, plainly perceiving that 
they must adopt another course : and after having in- 
vited and urged all to register, they began to pro- 
scribe and persecute the people, for responding to 
their call. They afterwards digested a regular sys- 
tem of bribery and proscription ; and in cool, delib- 
erate wickedness, this exceeded all they had done 
before. We can lind some excuse, even for the bru- 
tal outrages of the drunken soldiery. Their coav- 
ardice required stimulants — and these more than 
half deprived them of their reason, so that they are 
hardly to be regarded as accountable beings. But 
when a body of grave legislators — the professedly 
wise men of the State — combine with themselves 
the men of wealth and high condition, and sit down 
in deliberate council, inquiring of each other for the 
safest and most expeditious way to rob the people — 
not merely of their money — not merely of their 
life — but to rob them of their liberty — to despoil 
them of their integrity — or, in failing to do this, to 
starve them, and their innocent families, until they 
yield, or die — a scene of cool and deliberate wick- 
edness is presented, which could not be exceeded by 
any beings, in any place. A special committee was 
appointed for each ward in the city of Providence, to 
go round, and find out all the cases in which bribery 
and proscription could be brought to bear. One of 
the modes of operation was to make paupers of peo- 
ple, by apparently friendly .oifers of aid, and thus 
destroy their votes. This was reduced to a regular 
business ; and many were misled, and lost their citi- 
zenship, without suspecting the trick, until too late. 
Some sniveling, driveling zealot, was considered the 
best emissary. He would go to a poor family, and 
inqnire into their means of living, and necessities, 
with an appearance of perfect friendliness. Relief 



30S MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

or assistance would, in most cases, be almost forced 
upon the unsuspecting family ; but when the hus- 
band presented himself at the polls, if not before, 
the truth would appear ; and the man would feel 
himself sunk in the pauper. One of these emissa- 
ries of Satan went to an old revolutionary soldier in 
the south part of the city, and with much persuasion 
induced him to accept of a load of wood. The 
poor old soldier, on finding that he had sold his 
manhood for a load of fuel, was so deeply grieved, 
that he sickened and died, in consequence. Whole 
families were turned out of doors in mid-winter, and 
the farmers took many of them into their houses and 
barns. There were few Algerines, who held in their 
hands the power of bribery or proscription, failed to 
make use of it, to the prejudice of poor neighbors, 
and dependent laborers. It would be a curious and 
interesting inquiry, to ascertain how few of the Al- 
gerines did not violate the last clause of Section 4, 
Article 2, of their own Constitution, Avhich says 
that no person convicted of bribery, shall exercise 
the privilege of voting. If all who had been guilty 
of bribery in the electioneering of 1842-3, had been 
convicted^ the people would have triumphed, almost 
unanimously. And yet, after all this, the Journal 
had the audacity to say, '• The election went for us, 
because the majority of the people were with us." 
Their triumph was dearly purcliased — and can it 
he triumph, Avhich is obtained only at the expense 
of everything valuable and honorable to man ? It is 
the triumph of the robber, when he returns from the 
highway laden with gold. It is the triumph of the 
murderer, his hands dripping with warm gore ! It 
is a triumph that holds disgrace on high, only to 
make it more signal and complete. 

The manufacturers in this game played into each 
other's hands. Those in the town of A., finding their 
operatives unwilling to sell themselves, turned them 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 309 

away. Those in the town of B. made the same trial, 
with the same result. But the operatives could not live 
without employment ; and those who had been em- 
ployed in the town of A, went to the town of B, 
and those who had been employed in the town of 
B, went to the town of A. The consequence of this 
combined movement was, that the operatives, by 
losing their residence, lost their votes, while the 
manufacturers lost nothing, being subjected only to 
the momentary inconvenience attending the change. 
A more deliberate and malicious system of iniquity 
was never invented ; and how any honest man could 
act under a government so organised, is a difficulty 
I am unable to solve. The public treasuries had 
been exhausted^ banks had been robbed, and all 
available resources had been called out to promote 
these hellish schemes ,* yet up to the very day of the 
election^ which took place in April, the Suffrage 
Party were not without hope of final success ; but 
on that day a desperate rally was made by the Alge- 
rines, who came out with unblushing boldness, as 
slave-drivers, and buyers of men ; and several hun- 
dreds who had been, up to that very time, consider- 
ed as true men, were, in that shameful hour to Rliode 
Island, lost both to themselves, and the cause of lib- 
erty. The results were most disastrous. The hopes 
of the Suffrage Party were crushed, as it was be- 
lieved, never to rise again. 

December 7th, 1842, Franklin Cooley was tried 
for Treason ; Samuel Y. Atwell and Robert Ran- 
toul, were counsel for the prisoner, and Samuel 
Ames and A. C. Greene, Attorney General, appearing 
for the prosecution. The offence was having accepted 
of an office under the People's Constitution. The 
trial commenced on Wednesday, and on Friday af- 
ternoon the grand move was made by Mr. Atwell, to 
bring in evidence that the People's Constitution was 
legally adopted ; and, therefore, that the prisoner 



310 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

could not be guilty of Treason. To prove this, Mr. 
Atweil offered to bring the testimony of the Moder- 
ators of different Town Meetings, who were all pre- 
sent, having been summoned at great expense and 
trouble ; and, if this would not suffice, he proposed 
to call the whole 13,000 who had voted for the Con- 
stitution. His argument was a masterly one, and 
the strongest authorities were cited, to prove that 
sovereignty, with all its prerogatives, exists in the 
people. Messrs. Atweil and Rantoul were both lis- 
tened to with breathless attention, although frequent 
attempts to confuse them were made, both by Judges 
and lawyers. I had seen much in my native state 
that was disgusting, and heart-sickening, but never 
before had I blushed so deeply at the prostitution of 
power in the Halls of Justice, before the highest 
judicial tribunal of the State, as on that day. It was 
evident that the Judges were exerting all their influ- 
ence on one side, and that against the prisoner ; and 
that they were striving, by every possible manoeu- 
vre, to confuse, perplex, and put out of countenance, 
the counsel for the Defendant ; and that they took a 
malicious pleasure in marring the beauty of two of 
the most eloquent and masterly arguments I ever 
heard from human lips. The jury could not agree 
upon a verdict. They stood seven for conviction, 
and five for acquittal, and the case remains undecided. 

A brother of Col. Cooley, who had come on 
from New York during the war, but with no inten- 
tion of taking any part in the matter, having been 
arrested, and confined for a long time, in the pesti- 
lent air of the prison, until he became insane, died 
suddenly during the trial, and was buried at the re- 
cess of the court. He was followed to the grave by 
an immense crowd of friends and citizens, all of 
whom felt that he was as truly a murdered man, as 
if the cold steel had put an end to his existence. 

Just before the election, several of the Algerine 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 311 

Dignitaries sallied forth to lecture in the country^ 
through the southern part of the State, and, wher- 
ever they came, they gave utterance to the most 
wicked and abominable falsehoods. They had hand- 
bills printed, and put them in circulation, where it 
was asserted, in glaring characters, that Dorr was 
already on Seekonk plain, with an immense force of 
ai*med ruffians, and man^r other things equally false : 
and they were believed^ because people could not 
comprehend how they should be so lost to all sense 
of shame, as to utter those abominable lies, in that 
audacious manner, when contradiction was so near 
at hand. But they were, in fact, utterly insensible 
to every obligation of truth and honor ; and while 
they claimed to be Law and Order gentlemen, they 
could most truly be convicted as common liars. 

How falsehood can be less dishonorable in diplo- 
matists than in other men, I cannot see ; yet the 
most efficient weapons of our political warfare, are 
barbed with falsehood — and that, often of the most 
malignant character. We can never become a truly 
great Nation, until the time arrives when, by our oath 
of oflice, we shall 7iot be bound to sustain a party, 
by all supposed necessary violation of truth and 
right — when politicians may speak the truth, and 
act the truth — nay, when, to preserve their charac- 
ter pure, they 7nust do so — when an official liar 
will be just as mean as a domestic, or social liar — 
when what is false will be just as bad in one place, 
as another. But there is a great deal of selfishness, 
and a great deal of wickedness, to be purged out of 
us, before that day arrives ; and the sooner we set 
about it, every man of us, the better will it be for 
us, and for our country ; nay, the salvation of our 
country depends on this ; for what can a people be, 
who have lost all honorable regard for truth ; and 
what can a nation be, whose chief springs of action 
are moved by Falsehood ? Let us, then, strive to 



312 MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

hasten the day, when party rancor may be meUed 
down, and refined away, until only the pure gold is 
left — when selfishness shall be subdued by true 
patriotism — when the representatives of all parties 
shall leave these miserable wranglings for place and 
spoil, to tlie lower animals^ and come up together, 
like MEN, to the broad platform of Right, and there 
labor together, with but one object — our country's 
GOOD ? Is this, also, visionary ? Then let us begin 
to make it truth ; for it is quite time ! 



APPENDIX. 



THE SUFFRAGE WOMEN. 

Let the Suffrage Women of Rhode Island, be remembered 
with everlasting honor. It is impossible here to do them justice. 
Suffice it, that they have cheered, sustained, encouraged, and as- 
sisted, those who were struggling for right, with a zeal and 
steadfastness which would have adorned the revolutionary age. 
Both by individual exertion, and voluntary contributions, as well 
as through the medium of associations, they have administered 
to the wants of numerous families, of such of the poor as had 
been proscribed, or imprisoned, for their principles. To do this, 
they denied themselves everything but the most absolute neces- 
saries of life. Hundreds of laboring men, in losing their em- 
ployment, by proscription, lost all their means of living ; and such 
were sought out, and by timely relief, encouraged to persevere 
in their integrity. These women went about continually, like 
embodied spirits of love, and tiieir deeds of mercy shone like the 
presence of angels in the abodes of sickness, and want, and il- 
lumed the baleful prison cells, with a light like that of Heaven. 
Embalmed by thousands of grateful hearts, their names shall be 
held in perpetual remembrance; and their living deeds shall con- 
tinue to blossom as in their first freshness, and bring forth fruits 
of love to bless the weary and the heart-worn forever; for Truth 
and Love are eternal ; and a good act never dies. How unlike 
are such deeds, to the flower-wreathing of bacchanals — the ban- 
ner and sword-presenting of the Algerine ladies ! Their hands, 
it is true, may be fairer, but their hearts are not quickened by 
that spirit of pure, self-devoted charity, which gives to woman 
her highest charm ; and, compared with the true women of 
Rhode Island^ they are as meteors in the presence of the eternal 
stars ; winning the eye for a while, by their gorgeous beaut}'-, but 
transitory, and soon passing away, to be no more seen. But 
blessed forever are the Suffrage Women of Rhode Island! And 
blessed are the deeds they have wrought ! 

THE MEMORIAL. 

On the 1st of February, 1844, the Democratic Members of the 
Rhode Island Legislature, memorialised the House of Represent- 
atives of the Congress of the United States, giving, in a clear 
and manly style, the principal facts connected with the late his- 
torjf of the Suffrage People of Rhode Island. The whole motion 
was kept a profound secret, until it broke upon the House like a 
thunder-bolt. Our Algerine members, however, recovered from 

27 



314 APPENDIX. 

the first shock, and rallied in defence of their old privileges. But 
their omnipotence, by virtue of being members of the Rhode 
Island Board of Algerines, was put to the test, and found — 
wanting ; and it was quite ludicrous to see how astonished they 
were about it. In Rhode Island they had only to speak, and the 
thing was done; but in Washington it was quite otherwise. It 
seemed that the floor of Congress, and the platform of the home 
Legislature, were quite different places; and that their almighty 
will fell far short of its accustomed results. Among these gen- 
tlemen, Henry Y. Cranston, of Newport, particularly distinguish- 
ed himself, by a furious imbecility which sometimes ran to the 
verge of madness. He very modestly told the house, that the 25 
members of the Rhode Island Legislature, were all liars — that 
there was not a word of truth in the Memorial. Had that asser- 
tion been made at home, all the leaders of his party would have 
responded to, and confirmed it ; and all their assinine folloAvers 
would have echoed it. The judges would have given charges, 
the lawyers lectures, and the ministers would have preached ser- 
mons, to confirm its truth. Then it would have been put into the 
Journal, and copied by all the satellites — that those 25 members 
are all liars ; and, moreover, that all the Judges, Lawyers, and 
Ministers, sat so — and nobody could have contradicted it, with 
any prospect of being able to sustain the truth. That is the way 
we do things in Rhode Island. Party interests are sustained in 
open and utter violation of truth and right. Some of our promi- 
nent men are now so bold, that they cast aside all disguise, and 
seek not to cover their wicked designs by the slightest veil. But 
what would do so well in Rhode Island, would not do at all in 
Washington. In spite of personal, as well as wholesale abuse, 
freely hestowed — in spite of the expressed will of the late om- 
nipotent members from Rhode Island, a majority of the House, 
had a contrary will. An investigation took place. Miiny noble 
and eloquent speeches were called forth ; and a resolution passed 
the House, to send for persons and papers. A committee Avas 
also appointed to report on the Memorial. The Algerines cried 
out bitterly against the subject of the Memorial being made a 
National Question. They forgot that they, themselves, made it 
so, when they solicited the aid of Jolin Tyler. While all this 
was going on in Washington, a special session of the Legisla- 
ture was convened at Providence. This was, undoubtedly, for 
the purpose of expelling the 25 members, signers of the Memo- 
rial — indeed, some of them confessed that such was their object. 
But liiuling a strong head tide, and a strong current of public 
opinion setting in against them, they duist not do that. The 
Journal advised them to treat the matter with silent contempt ; but 
blustering was more in character, and bluster they did. TJjey 
protested, and censured the Democratic members, declaring them 
guilty of PERJURY, for iiAviiVtr preseinted a Memorial to 



APPENDIX. 315 

Congress. Let that be remembered. They were a set of cra- 
ven cowards, and g-ave the lie to their own assertions ; for if those 
members ivere perjured — if thev had violated their oath of office, 
why did they not expel them ? Why did they sit there with per- 
jured MEN ? How could they descend to a false accusation, and 
then creep off with a base and cowardly CENSURE ? But hap- 
pily that censure reflects no disgrace. The Protest declared that 
Congress had no right to decide or inquire, whether the Charter 
Government was republican in its form, nor whether the People's 
Constitution was legally adopted, nor to agitate the questions 
connected with the government of the State, It is surprising 
what a degree of effrontery some small creatures have ! To the 
utter astonishment of the Algerines, the Congress of the United 
States did not obey. They went straight forward with their 
work ; but the Report of the Memorial has not at this time, reach- 
ed me. 



EXPENSES OF THE ALGEPdNE GOVERNMENT. 

Much has been said concerning the alleged intention of the 
Suffrage Party to destroy property ; or, at least, appropriate that 
of others to themselves. But with how ill a grace do such accu- 
sations come, from a party who have been guilty of the most 
wanton waste of property, to say nothing of downright theft and 
robbery. They made extravagant outlays for the purchase of 
arms and ammunition. The^y gave authority to the military to 
enter houses, hold citizens in custody, and rob them of their pro- 
perty, " without law, and against law." They flooded the State 
M'ith Pamphlets, President's Letters, and lying Hand-Bills, at an 
enormous expense. They squandered the School Fund. Extra 
sessions of the Legislature and Courts have been called. 
$2,509 76, was bestowed on William Blodget, for his celebrated 
feat of burglary and kidnapping, at the house of Capt, Crooks in 
Bellingham — an act which was entirely unauthorised by the 
commanding otticers, either at Woonsocket, or Tockwotton, 
which was disclaimed by the Governor and Council at Provi- 
dence, and reported to Gov. Davis by Gen. Dearborn, as an act 
U'holhj imaiithon'sed by the authorities of Rhode Island. 

At the late session of the General Assembly, Col. Blodget, and 
his associate in crime, Deacon Hendrick, made another demand 
on the Treasury, of about $2000, or five dollars per diem since 
the October session ; which was intended to cover loss of time, 
and all incidental expenses. These gentlemen have become ac- 
knowledged stipendiaries of the Government ; and yet their claim 
was disputed by their own party, and reduced to two dollars per 
diem. Thus have the public resources been, and continue to be, 
exhausted, in paying premiums to court favorites, for acts of law- 
less violence ; and the laboring people, who have been the great- 



816 APPENDIX. 

est sufferers by this violence, must bear the chief of the burden 
it lias occasioned. The Algerine Party are beginniner to learn 
wisdom ; for the consociated interests of society, will not lon^ 
permit one portion of its body to be sustained at the expense of 
the other, without material injury to the whole. 

The sum of $1,800 was appropriated to sustain the Light In- 
fantry, and uncounted thousands went to pay other military (;om~ 
panies and officers. The City Treasury showed itself a defaulter 
in the sum of six or seven thousand dollars, which has never been 
accounted for. The Providence County Bank was reported to 
have been robbed of some eight or ten thousand dollars ; and, 
lastly, the Agricultural Bank, which was under the supervision 
of Gov. King, was found minus about $12,000. The fraud, or 
dishonesty, pretty generally attaches to Gov. King; but it is 
more than probable — it is almost certain — that others besides 
his "Excellency," were involved in the guilt; and, as very little 
is said about it, and no efficient steps are taken to elucidate the 
subject, it seems most likely that the lost money was appropriated 
to the payment of bribes, as other large sums were known to be. 
But, however this may be, after the affiiir exploded, the Journal 
for the first time ceased the cry of " Banks and Beauty ;" for a 
sore cord in their own bosoms began to respond to that false ut- 
terance, which brought the truth home to them somewhat too 
painfully. 

TRIAL OF GOV. DORR. 

After his banishment from his native state, Mr. Dorr had found 
refuge with Heinry Hubbard, Governor of New Hampshire, 
whose name will always be fondly cherished, by every true 
Rhode Islander. On the election of Marcus Morton to the Chief 
Magistracy of Massachusetts, in 184ij, Gov. Dorr came into that 
Stale, where he was cordially welcomed by thousands. The vil- 
lage of J-^aw tucket, being situated on each side of the line divid- 
ing the two states, and only four miles from Providence, was a 
convenient place wherein to meet his friends ; and he repaired 
thither, to be blessed again by the sight of old familiar faces, and 
meet, and return, the pressure of hard, but honest hands. Most 
of his old adherents again flocked around him; some of whom 
had, indeed, turned aside for a moment; but their hearts were 
still true, and their motives unchanged. 

On the 10th of August, Mr. Dorr put forth an Address " To 
the People of Rhode Island," which contains a synopsis of the 
whole history of the Suffrage Movement. It is also a com})lete 
vindication of his own course, and motives. Whoever, upon 
reading, cannot be convinced of this, can be convinced of no- 
thing. In this Address, lie announced his intenfion to return to 
Rhode Island at an early day. His object in doing this, was to 



I 



APPENDIX. 317 

secure the trial of the great constitutional question, which would 
be involved in his own. He had borne calumny and persecution 
of the deadliest character — of the blackest die ; yet for the sake 
of Rhode Island — ungrateful Rhode Island — that had mali- 
ciously traduced him, and cast him forth as an alien, he now sur- 
rendered his liberty, and became the inhabitant of a noisome 
prison. And forever hallowed are the prison-bounds, that enclosed 
the self-sacrificing patriot — perhaps mariijr, to the cause of Lib- 
erty ! When those gray old walls are dim with years, and, in the 
lapse of uncounted ages, are crumbling into fragments, those 
fragments shall be gathered as relics — embodying an eternity 
of grateful memory, to the patriot who sanctified them, by mak- 
ing them witnesses of his devotion to the cause of Truth and 
Right. 

On Thursday, October 31st, Gov, Dorr arrived in Providence, 
and entered his name on the Books of the City Hotel; after 
"which he went to the house of Col. Simons, where he had an en- 
gagement to dine, leaving his address, with orders that all who 
wished to see him, might find him there. He was very soon 
waited upon by an officer, arrested, and conducted to prison. The 
most intense excitement prevailed throughout the city and State, 
and a deep feeling of indignation was aroused, that extended 
over New England. 

Contrary to the old English law, which says that the accused 
shall be tried in the county where the offence is said to be com- 
mitted, Mr. Dorr was taken to Newport, on Thursday, Feb. 29th, 
ostensibly for the purpose of receiving a fair trial ; but really, 
that the bitter hostility of the people in those parts might ensure 
his condemnation. He was arraigned the same day, and pleaded 
that the Court at Newport had no jurisdiction over his case. To 
this plea the Attorney General demurred, saying he was not pre- 
pared for such a question; and the Court allowed him until 
Thursday, March 7th, for preparation — that being almost the end 
of the term. 

On Tuesday, March 5th, at the first sitting of the Court in the 
new term, Mr. Dorr was again brought into Court. He said thai 
as the distant day assigned by the Court for the hoarmg of the 
plea, would not permit both that and the main issue by a jury, to 
be tried at the present term; and being desirous not only of 
avoiding delay, but even the appearance of delay, he should with- 
draw what he believed to be a substantial defence, the plea to the 
jurisdiction of the Court ; pleided not guiltij, and claimed an im- 
mediate trial, as his right. The Court, after consulting together, 
announced that the 26th day of the ensuing April, was the earli- 
est day wliich could be assigned for a trial; and, accordingly, 
assigned it. 

It was then moved by the Defendant's Counsel, that the Court 
should, in their discretion, transfer the indictment for trial, to 

27* 



318 APPENDIX. 

Providence county, where the Defendant and his witnesses re- 
sided, in order to secure him " a speedy trial by an impartial 
jury ;" neither of which could be obtained in Newport, The 
motion was supported by Messrs. Turner and Atwell, and op- 
posed by Bosworth and the Attorney General, and overruled by 
the Court, who ordered GO additional jurors to be summoned by 
the Slieriff, for the 2Gth of April ; and the Defendant was re- 
manded to Newport jail. 

It is impossible, in this place, to give a full report of the trial, 
which would make a volume of itself. I can only, therefore, give 
its most important features. 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, 

VS. 

THOMAS W. DORR, 

FOR TREASON. 

At Newp3rt, R. 1., April 26, 1844. 

For the State, Joseph M. Blake, Esq., Attorney General, as- 
sisted by Alfred Bosworth, Esq., ot Warren. 

The Defendant conducted his own case, in the absence of his 
principal Counsel, Hon. Samuel Y. Atwell, from severe illness, 
assisted by George Turner, Esq., of Newport, and Walter S. 
Burges, Esq., of Providence. 

Newport, Friday morning, April 2Gth, the whole Court, con- 
sisting of Job Durfee, Chief Justice, and Levi Ilaile, William R. 
Staples, and George A. Brayton, asscciates, being present, the 
Defendant, Thomas W. Dorr, was brought in, and persisted in his 
former plea, of JVot Guilty. 

The first striking feature in the case, was the proposal to put 
to the jurors two unusual questions. 1. " Bid you vote for the said 
Thomas Wilson Dorr, for Governor, at the election on the 18th 
of April, 1842." 

2. " Have you formed the opinion., or do you believe that said Tho- 
mas W. Dorr ivas the Governor of the State, or aidhoriscd to exer- 
cise the duties of Governor, any time between the 16th day of Mav, 
1842, and the 28th of June, 1842 ?" 

Of course this highly unjust measure, which was calculated to 
produce a jury of one political party, was strongly opposed by 
the Defendant and his Counsel. The Court were equally divided 
on the question; Chief Justice Durfee, and, it is believed, Judge 
Haile, were in favor of putting the questions, and Judges Staples, 
and Brayton, in the negative ; so it was decided that they should 
not be put, although the Chief Justice said he was clearly of 
opinion that they ought to be asked. 

The Court then proceeded to the empannelment of tlie jury, 
which was a difficult and laborious process, that continued until 
ip o'clock of Tuesday morning, 30th. 124 Jurors had been sum- 



APPENDIX. 319 

moned, of whom 4 were absrnt, and 1 excused ; and from the 
number left, 119, the jurors were to be drawn : 7tl had been first 
summoned ; and afterwards 4 venires of 12 each. The Defendant 
being entitled to 20 peremptory challenges, after having exhaust- 
ed them, was obliged to submit to his fate, that of being tried by 
a PACKED JURY, upon which not a single democrat avas ad- 
mitted. Three only had been summoned ; and of these, two 
were set aside, on the ground of their having formed and ex- 
pressed opinions ; and to impeach the qualification of the third, 
wituesses were sought about the town ; and one was obtained, 
whose evidence should have been far from satisfactory; bul it 
was taken, and the last Democrat was stricken from the list. Upon 
the 3d venire, Mr. Dorr challenged the entire array, upon the 
ground of the miproper interference of Williim H. Cranston, who 
acted with, and at the instigation of the Attorney General, 
who had accompanied the deputy Sheriff out of town in making 
the summonses, and in whose hand- writing the return of jurors 
was made. Testimony was brought to prove that the said Wil- 
liam H. Cranston had declared he was looking for witnesses to i^et 
Tallman (the democrat) off of the jury ; and he was known to be 
bitterly hostile to the Defendant. JNotwithstanding the po- 
sitive unfairness of this, the Court decided that the challenge 
could not be sustained, and the Defendant excepted to the ruling" 
of the Court. 

In opening the case for the State, Mr. Bosworth, after having 
discussed the preliminaries, told the jury that the Court would in- 
struct them in the law, and they must apply it to the facts. He 
read the definitions of treason, and the statutes against it, and 
then went on to give a history of the proceedings of the Defend- 
ant, describing his character and motives in a strain of denun- 
ciation, and bitter invective, more like the exaggerated declama- 
tion of a political caucus, than the calm and solemn dignity which 
ought to prevail, when the fate of a human being becomes the 
subject of deliberation in a court of justice. Never, indeed, was 
there exhibited a more signal mockery of justice, than in this trial; 
and so long as a single drop of true Rhode Island blood, warms 
the veins of any of her children, they will blush and hide their 
lieads in the deepest shame, when the story is told, how the 
Friend of Equal Rights — the Friend of Virtue — of Liberty — of 
Humanity — was convicted of crime, at such expense of truth; and 
with such utter desecration of every principle of justice. 

The testimony was very voluminous, and it was quite remark- 
able in the whole process, to see how every point having the 
slightest bearing in favor of the Defendant, was ruled out of 
Court; while every circumstance tending to implicate him, was 
taken advantage of, though perfectly irrelevant to the point at 
issue. The testimony was sufficient to prove the overt act of 
Treason, (so called.) 



320 APPENDIX. 

There were several conflicting points between the testimony 
for the prosecution, and that for the defence, which, as they in- 
volve particulars of some importance, I will briefly state. Col. 
Wm. P. Blodget, and E. H. Hazard, testified upon oath, to the 
effect, that Mr. Dorr, when he made his speech on Federal Hill, 
drew liis sword, and said that it had once- been dyed in blood, and 
rather than yield the rights of the People of the State, it should 
iX_Q;ain be buried with blood to the hilt. This statement was con- 
tradicted upo.v OATH by Col. Benj. M. Darling, who was in the 
carriage with Mr. Dorr, at the time, and by Col, Samuel H. 
Wales, and Nathan Porter, who stood very near. ('ol. Blodget 
also stated upon oath, that when he went up on Federal Hill, on 
the 18th of May, Burrington Anthony came out, and said the men 
were all drunk, and under the control of nobody ; which statement 
vv^as contradicted by Mr. Anthony upon oath. Again : It was de- 
posed by Col. Blodget, that the cannon of the Providence Artil- 
lery were stolen ; whereas, it appeared from the testimony of Jo- 
siah Read, who commanded the detachment that went to take the 
guns, that he took them with the permission of Col. Bennett, upon 
passing his word of honor that they should be returned, when 
they had done with them ; and, moreover, that the guns did not 
belong to the State, but were the property of the Artillery Com- 
pany, having been presented to that company by Gen. Washing- 
ton, to replace three iron guns that had been borrowed of the 
company, and lost in the Sound ; and, further, that those same 
cannon were taken at the surrender of Burgoyne. Col. Blodget 
also deposed, that he never had said, since coming to Newport, 
that he came for the purpose of convicting Mr. Dorr ; but James 
Thurbur, jr., swore that he had spoken to him to that effect, spe- 
cifying time and place. This contradiction of oath, by oath, cer- 
tainly involves the crime of perjury, 

The testimony for the State being summed up, Mr. Turner 
opened for tiie Defence. He said a denial of facts was not the 
course to be pursued. He would not admit that the crime of 
Treason could be committed against a single State, and he 
claimed that Mr. Dorr was the legal Governor of Rhode IslandJ. 
acting under a valid Constitution. His points of defence were 
five, namely : 

1. That in this country Treason is an offence against the 
United States only, and cannot be committed against an indivi- 
dual State. 

2. That the 4th section of the Act of Rhode Island, of March, 
1842, entitled " An Act relating to offences against the sovereign 
power of the State," is unconstitutional and void, as destructive of 
the common-law right of trial by jury; which was a fundamental 
part of the English constitution at the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and has ever since been a fundamental law in Rhode 
Island. 



APPENDIX. 321 

3- That that act, if constitutional, gives this Court no jurisdic- 
tion to try tliis indictment, in the county of Newport; all the 
overt acts, being therein charged as committed in the county of 
Providence. 

4. That the Defendant acted justifiably, as Governor of the 
State, under a valid Constitution, rightfully adopted, whicii he 
was sworn to support. 

5. That the evidence does not support the charge of treasona- 
ble and criminal intent in the Defendant. 

When Mr. Dorr came to examine his witnesses, he called out 
every fact. He concealed notiiing. He had nothing to conceal. 
The openness, the dignity, the complete manliness of his conduct 
in managing the case, struck every unprejudiced mind with rev- 
erence ; and even the Court expressed themselves perfectly as- 
tonished at his course. They could not comprehend it; but they 
insensibly gathered respect for the Defendant, who had shown 
himself so entirely above the petty subterfuge which is often 
practised. 

An attempt was made to bring in evidence that the People's 
Constitution was legally adopted. Tiiis was objected to, which 
Mr. Dorr considered unfair; although the proceedings under the 
People's Constitution were allowed to be null and void, still, 
when told he was a usurper, when wicked, malicious, and aggra- 
vated charges were brouglit against him, he ought to be permitted 
to show his intentions, by the votes on the Constitution ; to show- 
that he did not act from his own mere motion, but from authority, 
which he sapposed to be valid. He did attempt to perform the 
duties of Governor. There were votes given, and counted ; he 
was troeited as the Governor of the State. The Court said that 
he should disprove the fact, instead of sustaining it; denied all 
the authority of the people ; the prisoner had not mistaken the 
law in regard to his natural rights; a prisoner might as well set 
up, to an indictment for robbery, the defence that he had a natu- 
ral riofht to the possession of the property which he took from the 
person he robbed. So the evidence of good intentions was not 
admitted in the deftmce : though that q/' evil iNTEiNTiojN was 
freely taken by the prosecidion. 

Aiter a long and animated debate on some of the principal 
points involved in the case, Mr. Dorr addressed the jury. He 
did not expect to address them at this stage of the proceedings ; 
and, tiierefore, had made no preparations. He regretted very 
much the abs(3nce of Mr. Atuell, whose valuable services were 
much needed. 

It is impossible to give even an epitome of his address. 
The spirit of his eloquence was truth. While he rebutted the 
charge of Treason, he denied nothing, which was done in Provi- 
dence, or on Federal Hill, or at Chepachet; claiming as his de- 
ferce, that he acted under authority ; that he had a right to do 



322 APPENDIX- 

all that he did ; the only wronof was in not doing more. He 

alluded to the black array of charges against himself and 
his companions — the cry of "Banks and Beauty," the "foreign 
Desperadoes ;" the " Sacking of the city of Providence ;" the 
"sword dyed in blood;" the "swinging of the torch;" the 
"State scrip," which he had issued, and the "trespass on private 
rights;" charges which had all been seriously believed. But the 
charges of theft actually committed by the Suffrage Party, had 
all been reducv°d to three. Some boards were taken, and used, 
on the hill at Chepachet, and afterwards burnt. A horse was 
borrowed, and afterwards reiurned. A cow Avas killed, and after- 
wards paid for. He narrated the political affairs of Rhode Island, 
from the early days of the Colony, up to the recent events con- 
nected with the attempt of the People to establish a Republican 
Government. He placed the difficulties against which he con- 
tended, in a strong light, and justified his motives. He plainly 
exhiliited the causes of failure. In conclusion he said ; 

"I am now before you to answer for my conduct. 1 am right. 
I am more to blame for what I did not do, than for what I did. I 
stand before you with the consciousness of having done my duty, 
according to the best of my abilities. I commit my case to your 
hands, with the hope that your verdict will be just, and with the 
firmest confidence in the final verdict of my country." 

'i"he Attorney General proceeded to close the case in an ex- 
ceedingly able and eloquent manner, which overpaid the atten- 
tion of the court for nearly three hours. 

The case was given to the jury about eleven o'clock, after a 
decided charge against the Defendant by Chief Justice Durfee. 
He claimed tiiat treason could be committed against a State, and 
that the jury must apply the law as they receive it from the Court, 
to the facts as they tind them. 

The jury came in on Tuesday morning at five minutes before 
two o'clock, having been out nearly three hours, with a verdict of 
GUILTY — and after receiving the thanks of the Court for the 
impartial and faithful discharge of their duties, were discharged, 
and the Court adjourned to meet at the Sheriff's office at 8 o'clock. 

Tuesday Morning, 8 o'clock. 

Mr. Turner presented a motion to stay the sentence, in order that 
Defendant might have time to file a plea for a new trial on the 
following grounds. 

1st. lQi])roper and illegal practice in the erapannelment of the 
jury. 

2d. Hostility of one or more of the jury against defendant. 

3d. That improper evidence was admitted, and proper evidence 
rejected. 

4th. Non qualification of one of the jurors. 

5th. That the Court misdirected the jury Q.S to the law. 



APPENDIX. 323 

The Court decided that the case remain open until the second 
Monday in June next, for a hearintj^ on this motion. 

The character of Mr. Dorr, however much lie may have been 
traduced, needs no eulogy. *Its high and pure traits are self-evi- 
dent to all Avho are capable of appreciating- true nobleness, or of 
understanding true goodness ; and they who are not, will not re- 
ceive the power from any number of words. Therefore, I shall 
be brief. 

If I were to name his predominating- characteristics, I should 
say, Dignity, Firmness, Conscientiousness, Benevolence, and a 

WANT OF SeCRETIVE.XESS. 

The latter trait, his open straig-ht-forward integrity, is strongly 
marked. He is wholly wanting in tiiat shrewd hnesse, which is 
essential in a military leader, and is supposed to be essential in a 
Statesman. All his movements have been open and above-board. 
He told everybody, with perfect frankness, just what he intended 
to do. 

Of his dignity I need make no assertion. Where is another 
man, who could have passed through all that he has done, without 
once cowering — without once sinking below himself — without 
once losing that loftiness of carriage, which is but the outward 
type of a lofty soul — growing even loftier amid the blasts of per- 
secution, as the oak grows taller and stronger, when shaken by 
the arm of the tempest! 

His firmness has been exemplified in all his acts, and is admit- 
ted by every one. It was expressed in the declaration so v/ell 
maintained, and with such deep sacrifices; "I cainnot, and 

WILL NOT COMPROMISE THE LIBERTIES OF THE PEOPLE !" 

Conscientiousness is manifest in that high regard for truth by 
which he is so strongly characterised ; and which even his bit- 
terest enemies concede to him. And, conjointly with this, his 
Benevolence is seen in his labors for the cause of Humanity. 
When he first entered the General Assembly of Rhode Island, 
there was no young man who might have claimed to look higher 
than Thomas Wilson Dorr. Possessing the combined advanta- 
ges of education, wealth, high parentage, and intellect of the 
first order, the range of his ambition appeared unbounded. He 
could have been all that he v/ould. And what did he do ? Seek- 
ing not the pleasant gale of court favor, which would have borne 
him pleasantly on in the auspicious career of youthful ambition, he 
turned abruptly from the winning breeze, to breast alone the 
strong current of opposition — to labor manfully against wind 
and tide. He put forth his young strength in behalf of the poor. 
He pleaded for those who could not plead for themselves. He tri- 
umphed in the cause of Humanity ; putting down the defenders 
of tyranny and despotism, with rn unexpected strength — with a 
Herculean power, which astonished, while it enraged them. And 
here is the secret of the deep and deadly hatred that has followed 



324 APPENDIX. 

him, in all his public course, and been broug-ht to a crisis in the 
late events. He was a seceder from the ranks of aris- 
tocracy ; and, henceforward, he was a doomed man. But not- 
withstanding all this, no man in Rhode Island ever had so deep 
a hold on the affections of the people ; and no man ever so well 
deserved them. 

Among his public acts may be reckoned his exertions in behalf 
of Schools, by which he rendered his native State essential ser- 
vice. He also brought about some important reforms in the 
banking system. He introduced, and carried through the Legis- 
lature, a Bill, appointing a Board of Commissioners, to examine 
into, and investigate the affairs of Banks ; to ascertain the exact 
amount of specie in each bank vault; the law requiring that the 
returns should be prepared on the same day, and at the same 
hour of the day, so that there should be no loaning of specie, in 
order to make a false exhibition of its amount. Had this act re- 
mained in force, the great frauds in Rhode Island could never 
have taken place. The act was repealed, and it may be, for that 
verv purpose. 

In conclusion, I would ask, if all the persecution of the Alge- 
rines has reflected one particle of dishonor upon its subject? 
Does that prison, vile and loathsome as it is, connect any disgrace 
■with its illustrious inhabitant ? No. A glorious light irradiates 
its hoary walls, such as seldom ever shone upon the walls of 
palaces — the light of tried, suffering, and triumphant virtue. 
In this incorruptible light shall live the name of Tho3Ias Wil- 
son Dorr ; while those of his persecutors shall only be rescued 
from oblivion, by the indelible disgrace to which they are 
doomed. 



APPENDIX TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 

OF 

THOMAS WILSON DORR. 

There is something in tlie presence of a true man, which al- 
ways inspires me with reverence, even though it be shrined in 
the form of the humblest and tlie meakest ; but when to this is 
superadded the radiance o^ a great intellect, I cannot but feel 
that here is the perfected Ideal of the Creator, when he said, 
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." 

Such is the feeling whh which the character of Thomas W. 
Dorr, inspires me. Such is the deep reverence with which 1 
attempt to delineate, though but in outline, its beautiful and ma- 
jestic proportions. That all do not perceive them, is not because 
they do not exist ; but for want of corresponding attributes in their 
own characters. They are blind, only because selfishness and 
?m-truth obstruct their vision. Let them cast the beam out of 
their own eye, and they shall see clearly, what God, and angels, 
and all just men behold, rejoicing that "truth is made manliest in 
the world, unsubdued and unsubduable, by the powers of Dark- 
ness and of Falsehood. 

The subject of this sketch, was born at Providence, Rhode 
Island, November 5th, 1805. He very early began to show the 
spirit of philanthrophy, which became, in after life, his predomi- 
nant characteristic — his ruling passion; and for which he has 
suffered so deeply, sacrificing hopes alluring as were ever pictured 
in the brightest dreams of a young ani gifted spirit, or beamed 
upon the visions of ambitious and devoted parents. 

He early began to think of the poor; and to ameliorate their 
condition, was the private subject of all the little plans and labors 
of his childhood. His temper was sweet and amiable in the 
extreme. He never had any difficulty with any member of his 
father's family, or any of the boys of his acquaintance. They 
all loved Thomas ; and towards all he knew, his own little heart 
was continually overflowing, with its excess of pure and innocent 
love. And not less remarkable than his good temper, was his 
ENTIRE TRUTHFULNESS. Thoso who bost kucw him can testify, 
that he was never guilty of deceit, in any form or any degree. 
Whatever he said was always known to be truth, and received as 
such, without comment and without question. Along with these 

28 



326 APPENiJiX, 



traits, was early developed another very remarkal)le one, the 
FIRMNESS for which he has been so much distinguished, and 
which has sustained him in the most trying situations. 

It was told me by a lady who attended school Avith him, when 
a very litlle fellow, his new school-mistress tried three days be- 
fore she could get him to make a bow ; after the end of that time, 
being fairly worried out, he yielded. He might have been study- 
ing out the question why bows were made. He might have had 
conscientious scruples, or it might have heen sheer obstinacy ; 
but the infant who could thus persevere must have character — 
strong character. 

Thus were combined in him three traits, which have been sel- 
dom found united in the same individual — a sweet temper, truth- 
fulness, and firmness. Very amiable persons are seldom remark- 
able for firmness ; and they mostly want the nerve to be perfectly 
and determinately honest. These characteristics were not so 
combined but for some great purpose. They could not have been 
so combined, without producing great results. Thus we see in 
the child the perfect miniature of the man; and thus was he 
prepared for the work which he was to do. 

And over all this is still thrown a charming veil of modesty, 
"Vvhicli, while it enhances the beauty of the ch^iracter, adds to the 
grandeur of its effect. Self-relying, calm, serene ; content with 
the approbation of his own heart, which, though misunderstood 
by otiiers, knows itself; he is neither elated by prosperity, nor 
depressed by adversity. Possessing mind and heart with great, 
yet perfectly balanced powers, it would seem as if the soul of 
some old Roman had united itself with affections, warm and loving 
as ever stirred the breast ot man. 

An interesting anecdote, which is strikingly illustrative of his 
character, is told of him, ^vhen a school-boy. The teacher, in 
order to excite emulation among his pupils — which, let nie ob- 
serve in passing, is an entirely false piinciple to act upon — oflfer- 
ed a premium, a m^dal, I think, to the one who should, within a 
given time, prove himself the best scholar. There weie two 
successful competitors for the prize, Tiiomas W. Dorr, and another 
boy. The teacher was truly perplexed. Their claims a{)pe.ired 
perfectly equal. He could not decide between theui. But 
Thomas, with a generosity, a nobilily of soul, which they only car 
appreciate who have struggled liard for a mental prize, and, 
when won, have felt how dear, how absolutely beyond all price it 
is — stepped forward to his relief. "Give it to the other boy," 
said lie. ''His father is a poor man. He has to work hard und 
study too. I have nothing to do but study." 

The boy wJio could thus win, and thus resign, such honor, 
could not prove to be other than a great man. He surrejuiered 
the prize; but he won honor, which no medal, no diploma ever 
gave, and whic.i shall live and brighten forever, when the be;iten 



APPENDIX. 



327 



gold shall have been resolved into its elementary dust. To crown 
the greatness of the act, he never spoke of the sacrifice, even at 
home. The simple love of justice filled and satisfied his unselfish 
heart, subduing even the fiery impulses of his young ambition. A 
nobler act is not recorded. 

His studies preparatory to the <;ollege course, were pursued at 
Exeter Academy, New Hampshire; and at the age of 14 he 
entered Harvard University, where he graduated with honor — 
still retaining the purity of heart, the sincerity of soul, which are 
too often engrossed and swallowed up, in the selfish ambition of 
youth and manhood. 

No advantages were spared, which wealth could purchase, or 
doating love secure, in order that his education might be equal to 
his talents and prospects in life. Having chosen the profession 
of the law, he continued his studies under the direction of Vice 
Chancellor McCoun, in ihe city of New York; where, also, he 
attended the lectures of the celebrated Chancellor Kent, during 
two winters. He then read lav/ one year at tiie office of John 
Whipple, Esq., at Providence ; after which he spent two years in 
travelling through his native country. 

From the position in which he stood, with the combined advan- 
tages of wealtii, high station, powerful friends, an energetic char- 
acter, and talents of the highest order, no boundaries to his 
ambition could be discovered — whatever he would he might 
iiavc been. Tlie nigiiesi ottices, the highest honors, in the 
country seemed crowning the gay perspective of the future; and 
he had nothing to do but to go forth, and win, and wear them. 

But he soon discovered himself to be in a false position ; and as 
he went more abroad in the world, he found that the love of Truth 
and Justice, which were innate to his o^vn bosom, met with no 
response, or, at the best, a very false one. In society he beheld 
the advantages which should have been equally diffused, con- 
centrated upon a very small class. The many labored for the 
few; while ihe former were becoming, every day, more unjust 
and exacting in their demands — more exclusive and narrow in 
their little sphere of usu'ped privileges; and the latter more 
yielding, passive, and servile; until a state of things not unlike 
that of lord and vassal, master and slave, was becoming every 
day more fixed and apparent; the condition of the poor and of 
the rich appearing equally adverse to human progress, and to the 
Divme idea which should bo expressed in human society. Men 
were not brothers, ready to help one another, but enemies, each 
seeking to sustain his own selfish and counteracting interests. 
To tlie great mass of the people, every avenue to progress and 
improvement was hedged up. The necessity of constant and un- 
mitigated labor for bread, was as a strong chain confining them 
to the sterile places of Ignorance and Poverty ; while at the same 
time the wealthy few seemed nowise disposed, themselvesj to 



328 APPENDIX. 

enter the great highway, which they had closed against their fel- 
low men. The acquisition of greater wealth, or the vapid and 
futile pursuits of fashion and display, for the most part, satisfied 
them ; while the strong and unrelenting necessities of life crushed 
the poor, whose unrequited labors paid the price of useless and 
enervating luxury. 

The state of the government corresponded with that of the 
society. 'JMie many were despoiled of their rights, that the few 
might be invested with the exercise of despotic power. The 
many were reduced to the condition of serfs and bondmen, while 
they were daily insulted by the assertion thai they were free ; 
and to this condition there appeared no prospect of relief, or 
change. The suffering party were not insensible of wrong. They 
had petitioned their rulers, crying for redress, until a whole age 
had passed away, and still no relief, no hope of relief, came. 
Very naturally, then, Avere the sympathies of a young and ardent 
nature, of a true heart, arrested. Mr. Dorr perceived the wrong, 
and no sooner did he perceive it than he set to work, with his 
whole soul elaborating itself in plans and remedies. He became 
identified with the suffrage cause; for that was the cause of th© 
poor and the oppressed. He still continued to adhere to it, whei?^ 
ahnost every one of its friends, overcome by a cruel and relent- 
less persecution — by the unlawful exertion of a foreign force — 
had bppn compelled to forsake his post. He had taken his stand, 
and he stood there until he stood aione. Me stood iheit;, even 
when those he labored to serve turned against him, and denounc- 
ed him — when his friends, on every hand, were joining his 
enemies, yelling loudest of the pack, and pouring out upon his 
single head the concentration of their bitter and fearful curses. 
]\Jisundersto'jd, calumniated, a hunted exile, with a price set upon 
his head, no man can say he ever, lor one moment, swerved from 
his integrity. He was equally strong against the threats of his 
enemies, and the persuasion of his friends. His character, like 
some old statue of matchless excellence, will appear best when 
most closely studied, and wants harmony only when there is some 
defect in the eye of the beholder. Yet this character has been 
vilified by the foulest slanders, and its fair proportions have been 
distorted into the Imeaments of a monster. Let us pity those 
who have been guilty of this. Tiiey are infected with a moral 
malady which deprives them of the power of perceiving true ex- 
cellence. Gross selfishness — a willful raid wicked adherence to 
party, and party interests — have long been petrifyirg in their 
hearts, and forming thick scales upon their eyes. They cannot 
feel. They cannot see. They can no more appreciate, or un- 
derstand, the character they traduce, than a mole could discourse 
on the properties of light, or a bat could analyze a sunbeam. Let 
them go to the True Physician, who has given one simple rem- 
edy for all such diseases — "Whatsoever ye would that men 



APPENDIX. 329 

should do unto you, do ye even so unto them" — if they would be 
made whole. 

In the year 1834, Mr. Dorr was elected as a member of the 
Leo-islature of his native State, where he remained four years ; 
and then more fully began to be developed his prominent char- 
acteristics. Instead of availing himself of the wind and tide of 
popularity, which were strongly set in his favor, to the astonish- 
ment of all, the chagrin of many, and the utter dismay of his 
compeers, he turned himself manfully, to breast the opposition, 
which gathered itself back with renewed violence, as if it niight 
overwhelm the power of Truth and Right, by the force of its 
imbecile finy. Wherever the Rich were trampling on the Poor; 
wherever the Strong were doing violence to the Weak, there 
stood he, a ready Champion, and unyielding Defender. He 
planted himself firmly beside the prostrate neck of Humanity, 
hurling back the powers of Tyranny, with a force that told them 
the barbed heel would no more be permitted to ent^^r tliere. He 
spoke for those who could not speak for themselves. He acted 
for those who were denied action. 

While a member of the Legislature, his attention was directed 
very much to the subject of political reforu), the right of Suf- 
frage, Equalization of Representation, Amelioration (if the Laws 
of linprisontnent for debt, security to the citizens against the in- 
creasing power and influence of Banks, and the Education of the 
masses of the people, by competent systems of Free and other 
schools. During his membership in that body, was also that of 
Benjamin Hazard, a member from Newport, who had always been 
a leading man in the House. Mr. liazird, while he possessed 
the most coimnanding talent and influence, was also the strong 
and determined opposer of everything like Reform in the polili 
cal conditioiv of the people. Upon the entrance of a new or 
young member into the House, his first vvork was completely to 
break him down, to overawe and silence him forever. He would 
plant himself fronting the Tyro, like some <jld gladiator before a 
youthful pugilist, scanning liim witn a piercing eye, which seem-* 
ed to say that, though he scorned to measure strength, in equal 
combat, with one so weak, he would still teach him that he must 
learn to follow, as a friend, or cease to exist, as an enemy. Dur- 
ing speech he would eye the young aspirant with a serpent-like 
expression, as if some evil charm were working in his fitful gaze; 
and of this every look and gesture — even the contraction of his 
fingers — was signally expressive. He seemed concentrating, 
all his terrible energies into a single focus; and upon tiie slight- 
est mistake, or inaccuracy of the speaker, he would level upon 
him the full-intensity of his withering power. Upon the appear- 
ance of Mr. Dorr, he perceived that there was no ordinary 
strength hidden under that calm and placid exterior; but he did 
not, and could not, measure it accurately. Like Goliah of old, 

28* 



230 APPENDIX. 

he arrayed himself in all the weight of his hitherto invincible 
armor, and went forth to slay the stripling. But the pebbles in 
the sling- of the young Champion of Right, had been plucked 
from the well of Truth. They entered the forehead of tlie giant. 
He reeled beneath their stunning influence, and, for the first time, 
and forever, his power was shaken. Thomas W. Dorr was the 
only young member of the House, wjio could ever debate, un- 
Jloored, in opposition to Benjamin Hazard. 

In the subject of Imprisonment for Debt, Mr. Dorr was much 
interested. He made laborious examinations of prison records, 
of the numbers committed in a given time, for wind insignificant 
amounts — and the still more insignificant paymeni-, which had 
been enforced by the process — showing that the law was not 
only barbarous, in itself, but failed of securing the end of its 
institution. He spent much time in these researches ; and his re- 
ports, and speeches to the Assembly, on the subject, are replete 
with valuable suggestions. 

For the beautiful system of public education, of which the citi- 
zens of Providence are so justly proud, tiiey are mainly, indebted 
to Mr. Dorr, and only at the last session of the Legislature, and 
since the commitment of the latter, in a highly eloquent speech, 
on the j3ret ntment of a Bill for the Improvement of Public 
Schools in the State, the Sciiool System of Providence was ex- 
travagantly lauded, to the supreme delight of the patriotic Alge- 
rines, and held up as a pattern system ; but no one dared to say 
— no one would have been allowed to say — how they came by 
it. Mr. Dorr was President of the School Committee of the City 
of Providence, for many years ; which office he retained, to the 
great advantage of the city, until after his attempt to take pos- 
session of the public property, ;is Governor of the State. 

The Lien Act, which was passed Feb. 1, 1834, was another 
very important measure, which Mr. Dorr warmly sustained; and, 
though he was not the draftsman of the Bill, he was one of its 
strongest advocates, and was, perhaps, the chief means of its 
passing. By this Act it was provided, that the Mechanic who 
built a house, or constructed other works, might have a lien on 
the works constructed, for the payment of his labor, and the ex- 
penditure of his materials, which should be entitled to payment 
in preference to any other lien, which originated subsequent to 
the commencement of the work, provided he should give the 
proper notice, that he claimed (he benefit of the lien granted by 
this Act. Thus were the ri; ;its of the laborer secured against 
bankruptcy, unexpected or designed. 

But the most important public measure of Mr. Dorr, because it 
was one which extended to all classes of society, was embraced 
in the Bank Act, which was passed June 25th, Jb3(J. He draft- 
ed the Bill, anu was chiefly instrumental in passing it, against a 
tremendous opposition. By this Act, the old law for making an 



APPENDIX. 331 

annual report of the state of Banks was repealed, and Commis- 
sioners were to be appointed, to whom returns of the actual con- 
dition of Banks should be made, on oath, as often as they should 
think expedient ; and, on the fuilure of the President, or Cashier, 
10 render such returns as mig-ht be required, for the space of 30 
days, the charter of the Bank was to be forfeited. The Com- 
miissioners had also power, at such times as they should deem 
proper, "to examine, on oath, the President, Directors, and other 
officers, ao-ents, or servants of any Bank," "to examine the books 
and papers of such Bank;" "to send for persons and papers;" 
"to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the production of 
books and papers, by writs of summons, or attachment, and to 
commit for a contempt of their process, or for a refusal to answer 
such interrogatories as might be put by them in the performance 
of their duties." Any person who should refuse to attend the 
summons, to give the required testimony, or to produce books 
and papers, incurred, besides the peril of commitment for con- 
tempt, the fine of five hundred dollars. It will be readily per- 
ceived, that such a measure would naturally draw down upon its 
supporter the opposition and anger of the capitalists — the nio- 
nied aristocracy of the State, whom it obliged to surrender the 
po'.ver of conceahng their usurious exaction and fraudulent prac- 
tices. They were exasperated beyond measure, and their indig- 
nation and abuse knew no bounds. But Mr. Dorr, content witb 
having done right, as he always has been, calmly bore up under 
the weight of censure, for he knew that the right would in time 
be made manifest. This in a few years proved itself true. 
When the Banks of other states were crasliing by hundreds, 
those of Rhode Island remained good and firm. Then, when the 
hitherto odious Act was found capable of preserving, not only the 
interests of stockholders and borrowers, but the credit of Banks 
themselves, those who had been foremost in heaping odium on its 
author, exulted in his work, claiming all the credit of it, as a 
measure of their own party, upon the strength of Mr. Dorr having 
been, at the time of its passage, nominally a Whig. So high a 
conception of justice, so strong a love of truth, had the Lords- 
paramount of Rhode Island. 

The Scituate Bank, having become very much deranged in its 
affairs, an Act in relation to it, and tending to promote the public 
security, was passed in the same day Avith that above noticed. 
By this Act Thomas W. Dorr was appointed one of the Commis- 
sioners in trust, who were empowered " to take into their posses- 
sion, management, and control, all the property, books, papers, 
bank bills, evidences of debts, securities, and funds of every de- 
scription, belonging to said Bank, or in which it is interested." 
This was a highly responsible office, yet he was permitted to re- 
tain it until the June Session, 1843, and long after he had been 
calumniated as the great Robber of Banks. Several sessions of 



332 APPENDIX. 

the Le^^islature had supervened, yet no steps were taken to re- 
move hjtn, or to deposite the property which he held, in safer 
hands. 'J'his fact alone shows how highly they estimated the 
integrity of the man, whom they dared so deeply to trust, even 
while thpy abused him, and presents, in a strong light, the false- 
hood and wilful malignity of those who slandered hun. When 
he at last surrendered his trust, all the books and papers were in 
the most beautiful and perfect order, and everything was fair and 
right. The enemy who can be so deeply trusted, and under such 
circumstances, must be known to be honest, and high-souled, far 
above the range of ordinary men; and that he proved himself 
■worthy of the trust, can add nothing to the favorable evidence, 
to those who rightly estimated his character, for they can see that 
it could not be otherwise. 

As another instance of the consistency and honorable charac- 
ter of his mind while he remained a member of the Legislature, 
his course on the election of our U. S. Senator, in ICi^S-, when 
the Hon. Tristara Burges was a candidate, might be referred to 
with great effect. 

But the people of Rhode Island well remember all the circum- 
stances of that excited election. The friends of Mr. Buries were 
then under the greatest obligations to his exertions, without any 
peculiar claim upon him for those exertions, while among his 
enemies the loi re-pullers, the cotto'i merchant, mongers and in- 
triguers, formed a clique, whose object was politically to destroy 
both Mr. Burges and Mr. Dorr. Much to their own disgrace, 
they succeeded in regard to the former, and are now in full pur- 
suit after tlie destruction of the latter. But " there,'^ to use the 
words of Gov. Dorr in his last noble speech to the Court, "they 
are doomed to disappointment." 

The connection of Mr. Dorr with the Suffrage Party and its 
movements; his exile and voluntary return, to vindicate and suf- 
fer for the great principles which he had espoused, have been no- 
ticed in a previous chapter of this volume, too briefly, I know ; but 
the future* biographer will do them justice. I am not peruiitted 
to dwell on thom .here. A book of bitter sorrow, but of glorious 
triumph, will be the Life of Thomas W. Dorr; and blessed is 
the day when it will not only be written, but responded to by 
the universal heart of man ; for then will bleeding and prostrate 
Humanity be lifted from the dust, and the Rights of Man be for- 
ever and off. ctually vindicated. 

It has been said, and it is often repeated, that Mr. Dorr em- 
braced the interests of the Suffrage Party, simply from motives 
of anibition. That he could not wait to be famous by tlie ordi- 
nary course of events ; and so he left the high road, to gain the 
point by a shorter route. How idle, how entirely viid of foun- 
dation, is such an assertion! How happened it that those who 
pretend to believe so, did not take the sauiC path if it promised 



APPENDIX. 333 

to be the nearest and earliest road to distinction ? Were they too 
honest, too patriotic, to do so? It would not appear from their 
character and conduct, th:it there were any moral obstacles in 
the way. They knew that in such a course, there was every- 
th'mg to lose, and nothing to gain, if it were not the goal or 
OTHERS ; and that to them was a contraband article, in which, by 
the rule of their order, they never dealt. 

On the 24th of June, 1844, the Supreme Court, at their ad- 
journed term at Newport, unanimously overruled Mr. Dorr's mo- 
tion in arrest of judgrnent, as th'-y had on the 14th day of the 
same month overruled his bill of exceptions to the verdict and 
motion for a new trial ; and on Tuesday Morning, the 25th, Mr. 
Dorr was brought into Court, and received his sentence — sol- 
itary co^FINEMENT and hard labor, in the State Prison, 
FOR LIFE!! Would that some kind angel might blot the 
shameful fact from our page of History ; that in Rhode Island, in 
the United States of Republican America, amid all the free 
thought, free inquiry, and free action, of the 19th century, a vir- 
tuous and noble-minded citizen is tried by a packed Jury, and 
sentenced to the slow murder of imprisonment for life^ in a vile 
and loathsome cell, for teaching, and attempting to carry out in 
practice, the great doctrines of Man's inherent rights and natural 
equality, which are embodied in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. This is not to be wondered at, when we consider 

Lliat all tlic Judgco oompoeing' tho Court have repudiated that 

Instrument — four of them directly, and the Chief Justice him- 
self, no less truly, both by language and action!! What could 
be expected of such a Court, better than Packed Juries, and all 
the solemn mockery of justice, which have been exhibited in the 
trial of Mr. Dorr.^ That was a bitter day to Rhode Island! a 
mournful day — a shameful day! and hut for the halo of noble- 
ness, which, like a visible element, shone around the victim, it 
would have been filled with the blackness of despair, to every free 
and feeling heart! With a greatness of soul which nothing pre- 
sent could match, and, therefore, nothing could subdue, when 
asked by the Clerk if he had anything to say why sentence 
should not be pronounced against him, he stood up before his ac- 
cusers, and thus he answered for himself 
REPLY OF MR. DORR TO THE COURT, WHEK ,^SKEB 

WHY SEA'TE^CE SHOULD J\'OT BE PROjVOUJSX'ED 

UP OK HIM. 

The Court have, through their officer, addressed to the Defendant 
the usual questions, whether he have anything- to say why sentence 
should not now be pronounced upon bun. I have something to say, 
which shall be brief and intelligible to the Court, though it must be 
necessarily unavailing. Without seeking to bring myself in con- 
troversy with the Court, I am desirous to declare to you the plain 
truth. " 



334 



APPENDIX. 



I am bound, in duty to myself, to express to you my deep and 
solemn conviction that 1 have not received, at your hands, the fair 
trial by an impartial jury, to which by law and justice I was 
entitled. 

The trial has been permitted to take place in a county where, 
to say the least, it was doubtful whether the Defendant could be 
tried according to the law of the State ; and in a case of doubt 
like this, he ought to have had the benefit of it, especially as the 
trial here must be in a county to which the Defendant was a 
stranger, in the midst of his most excited political opponents. 

All but one of those freeholders, 1U8 in number, who were sum- 
moned here for the purpose of selecting a jury to try the Defend- 
ant, were of the opposite party in the State, and were deliberately 
set against the Defendant with the feelings of partizan hostility. 
The single democratic juror was set aside for having expressed 
an opinion. Of tlje drawn jurors, 16 in nunjbr r, two onlv were 
membrrs of tlie democratic party ; and one of tbem for cause, and 
tlie other for alleged cause, was removed. 

Every one of the jury finally selected to try the defendant was, 
of course, a political opponent.' 

And even as so constituted, the jury were not permitted to have 
the whole case presented to their consideration. They were not, 
as in capital, if not in all criminal ca.ses, they are entitled to be, 
permitted to judge of the law and of the fact. The Defendant and 
his Counsel were not permitted to argue lo the jury any matter of 
law. t 

The Court retust-d lu liear ilie law f-gued to lliemselves, except 
on tlie question whether treasos be an ofience against a State or 
against the United States. 

Tlie Court refused to permit the Defendant to justify himself by 
provirig ihe Constituiinn, the election and the authority under which 
he actt^d ; or to permit him to produce the same proofs, in order to 
repnl the cliarges of inalirious and traitorous motives made in the 
indictment, and zealously urged against him by the counsel for the 
State. 

By the charge of the Judge, the jury were instructed that the 
only question which they had to try was, whether the defendant 
intended to do the acts wliifb he performed : a question of capacity 
rather than of motives and intentions. 

It is true that the jury were absent more than two hours ; but 
not lor d<-liberation. One of them was asked, iinmediateU" after 
the verdict was delivered, and the jury was discl)arg(Ml, whether 
they hid been detained by any disagreement. He riiplied, "we 
had nolhini* to do. The Court had made every thing plain for us." 

On hearing a bill of exceptions to the verdict thus rendered, the 
Court promptly overruled all the points of law. 

TJjc Court also denied to the Defendant an opportunity of show- 
ing to them, that three of the jurors, before they were eujpantilled, 
manifested strong feelings, and had made use of vindictive and 
hostile expressions against him personally ) after the Defendant 
had established , by his affidavit the fact that he was not informed of 



APPENDIX. 335 



this hostility of feeling and expression before they were empanel- 
led, and with recrard to two of them, before the vt^rdict was render- 
ed. The Defendant expected to prove, by twelve witnesses, that 
one of these jurors had expressed a W'sh to have the Defendant put 
to death, and had declared, shortly after tlie verd'Ct, to a person in- 
quiring the result, that " he hiid convicted the Defendant, and that 
this was what he intended to do;'" — that another juror had also 
declared, that the Defendant ought to be executed ; and that the 
third had frequently made the same declaration, with a wish that 
he might be permitted to do the work uf an executioner, or to shoot 
him as he would a serpent, and put him to death. 

Nor would the C.)urt permit the Defendant to show by proofs, 
which he declared on oath to have been unknown to him at the 
tiiiif* of the empanellmg of the jurj^, that an array of twelve men^ 
summoned on venire by a deputy sheriff, were, or a considerable 
part of them, at least, the same persons who had been selected by 
an Attorney of this Court, who assisted the officer in the service of 
the summons. 

These, and other matters which I will not stop to enumerate, show 
that this trial, wliich has been carried through the forms of law, 
was destitute of the reality of Justice, and was but a ceremony 
preceding conviction. That there is any precedent for it, in the 
most acrimonious period of the most excited party times in this coun- 
try, I am not aware from any examination or recollection of its 
political history. 

In a trial of an alleged political offence, involving the feelings 
of the whole community, and growing out of a condition of af- 
fairs which placed the whole people of the State on one side or the 
other of an exasperated controversy, the strictest and most sacred 
impartiality should have been observed in the most careful investi- 
gation both of law and fact by the jury, and in all the decisions 
and directions of the Court. In what case should th':^y have been 
more distrustful of the political bias of their own minds, more 
careful in all their deliberations, more earnest in the invocation of 
a strengUi above their own, that they might not only appear to 
be just, but do justice in a manner so aoove all suspicion, tJiat the 
Defendant and all those with whom he is associated, might be sat- 
isfied that he had had his day in court, and that every requisition 
of the law had been observed and fulfilled. In how different a 
spirit were the proceedings of this trial conducted ! And with 
what emotions must the Defendant hnve listened to the declara- 
tion of one of your honors, that " in the hurry of tliis trial "' they 
couM not attend to the questions of law, which he so earnestly 
pressed upon their immediate consideration, as vitally important 
to the righteous determination of his case ! 

The result of this trial, which your sentence is about to pro- 
claim, is the perpetual imprisonment of the Defendant, and his 
seclusion from the face of society, and from all communication 
with his fel;ow-men. 

Is it too much to say, that the object of his political opponents is 
ihe gratification of an irisalial>le' spirit <»f revenge, rather than the 
attairimenl of legil justice.^ Tiiey are also bniit upon his political 



336 APPENDIX. 



destruction, which results from the sentence of the Court, in the 
deprivation of his political and civil riglils. They aim also at a social 
annihilation, by his commitment to that tomb of tiie living, from 
wliich, in ordinary cases, those who emerge are looked upon as 
marked and doomed men, to be excluded from the reputable walks 
of life. But there my opponents and persecutors are destined to 
disappointment. The court may, through the consequences of 
their sentence, abridge the term of his existence here ; they can an- 
nihilate his political rights ; but more than this they cannot accom- 
plish. The honest judgment of his friends and fellow citizens rest- 
ing upon the truth of his cause, and faithful to the dictates of hu- 
manity and justice, will not so much regard the place to which he 
is consigned, as the causes which have led to his incarceration 
within its walls. 

Belter men have been worse treated than I have been, though 
not often in a better cause. In the service of tliat cause I have 
no right to complain that I am called upon to sufJer hardships, 
whatever may be the estimate of the injustice which inflicts them. 

All these proceedings will be reconsidered by that ultimate trib- 
unal of Public Opinion, whose righteous decision will reverse all 
the wrongs which may be now committed, and place that esti- 
mate upon my actions to which they may be fairly entitled. 

The process of this Court does not reach the man within. The 
Court cannot shake the convictions of the mind, nor the fixed pur- 
pose which is sustained by intngrity of heart. 

Cliiiming no exemption from the infirmities which beset us all, 
and which may attend us in the prosecution of the most important 
enterprises, and at the same time conscious of the rectitude of my 
intentions, and of liaving acted from good motives, in an attempt 
to promote the equality and to establish the just freedom and inter- 
ests of my fellow-citizens, I can regard with equanimity this last 
infliction of the Court; nor would I, even at this extremity of 
the law, in view of the opinions which you entertain, and of the 
sentiments by which you are animated, exchange the place of a 
prisoner at the bar for a seat by your side upon the bench. 

The sentence which you will pronounce, to the extent of the 
power and influence which this court can exert, is a condemna- 
tion of the doctrines of '76, and a reversal of the great principles, 
which sustain and give vitality to our democratic Republic; and 
which are regardtid by the great body of our fellow-citizens, as a 
portion of the birthright of a free People. 

From this sentence of the Court, I appeal to the People of our 
State and of our country. They shall decide between us. I 
commit myself without distrust, to their final award. I have no- 
thing more to say. 

Cldef Justice Durfee^ after a few remarks, in which he observed 
that the matters slated by the prisoner had all been considered 
by the court; that the court had been swayed by no political mo- 
tives, and had been governed in their proceedings by the law of the 
land; and that, in consequence of the terms of acquaintance which 
had existed between himself and the prisoner, he now discharged 
with regret this last duty which the law imposed upon him — then 



APPENDIX. 337 



said — Listen, Thomas Wilson Dorr, to the sentence of the Court, 
which is "THAT THE SAID THOMAS VV. DORR BE IM- 
PRISONED IN THE STATE'S PRISON, AT PROVIDENCE, 
IN THE COUNTY OF PROVIDENCE, FOR THE TERM OF 
HIS NATURAL LIFE, AND THERE KEPT AT HARD 
LABOR, IN SEPARATE CONFINExMENT." 

We read the above, and are refreshed. Our hearts are lifted 
itp in thankso-jvincr. We are confident that our noble friend is 
safe --- that there is that in him which no Tyrant can harm, and 
no malice can reach — a great and true Soul. Such have, from 
time to time, borne testimony to the truth, through persecution, 
imprisonment, and martyrdom ; and in all, and throug-h all, they 
have been triumphant. Such a one cannot be sullied by aught 
that even Rhode Island Tyrants can inflict. They may, indeed, 
imprison the body, and cut oft' every physical enjoyment: but 
their power goes no farther. TheY cannot degrade their 
VICTIM ! In spite of their prison walls, and foul water, and putrid 
air, and loathsome vermin, he stands, at this moment, immeasura- 
bly above tliem — and, it cannot be doubted, happier though they 
are revelling in their. lordly mansions ; for he knows that his ene- 
mies are the enemies of Freedom ; His enemies are the enemies 
of Truth; his enemies are the enemies of Right; and the giant 
heart of Humanity, itself, responds to his claims. 

On tiie Q7th day of June, Gov. Dorr was removed from New- 
port Jail, to the State Prison in Providence. A multitude of his 
anxious and afflicted friends began gathering on the wharf, long 
before the arrival of the steamboat, to greet once more, though 
but in silence and in sorrow, their revered Champion. But they 
soon learned that he had been conveyed privately from NeAvport, 
and was already in prison. There the last and bitterest trial 
awaited him. He met, and took leave of his parents, perhaps (I 
will not say probably,) forever. 

On that evening the most intense excitement, not unmingled 
with indignation and remorse, prevailed among tlie Suffrage peo- 
ple, and was manifested by a mass meeting, which gathered spon- 
taneously on Weybosset Bridge. To use the words of a cor- 
respondent, "Many shed tears, and the predominant feeling 
among the best and most zealous was, 'Oh, God Almighty! 
HOW little w^e have done to prevent this!'" Many of 
the Algerine Lords, with their obedient vassals, assembled, at 
the same time, in the neighborhood of 1;he Prison, to witness a 
brilliant exhibition of F*ireworks, which were exultingly given oft 
from the brow of the adjacent hill. They have since been 
ashamed of this, arid 8ay that the display was purely an experi- 
ment, made in order to ascertain the best site for a grand exhibi- 
tion on the Fourth of July. But when it was told them that the 
occupation of that locality might be offensive and painful to the 
friends of Mr. Dorr, they refused to change the place, which de- 
29 



338 APPENDIX. 

licacy, at least, and a proper respSct to afflicted parents, who had^ 
done nothing to provoke them, should have prompted them to' 
comply with so reasonable a request. But what have they to 
do with fireworks, and rejoicioGfs, and celebrating the Fourth of 
July, monsters with hearts so black, circumstances only are to be 
thanked that they have not bloody hands ? It is time that the 
damnable hypocricy of celebrating Independence is seen through, 
when every sentiment that consecrates the day is openly and 
shamelessly violated --when the distinguishing principles of the 
Declaration which makes it memorable, are boldly and posi- 
tively denied ! 

Tlie next day a company of suffrage men, having possession of 
one of our national flags, raised it half-mast, union down, decorat- 
ed with badges of mourning, with the Rhode Island Star blotted 
out. There is, at once, a touch of high poetry, and a keen satire, 
in that simjde act, which, like a "red hot rapier," should have 
cut, and burned, throijgh the callous heart of every Algerine, if 
there was indeed, a heart among them! 

The spot of ground where the cannon were guarded by a hand- 
ful of suffrage men, had been purchased by a wealthy gentleman 
of the name of Kenyon, who appropriated it to the use of the 
people; and, on the Fourth of July, a mighty gathering assem- 
bled there. Some strong resolutions Avere passed, sanctioned by 
the outbursting thunder from thousands of indignant and injured 
hearts. Let them be kept. The Suffrage procession on that 
day was immense. It seemed absolutely without end ; while that 
of the Algerines, all told, amounted to just FORTY-SEVEN — 
a fine agamst the military, of three dollars per man, for non-at- 
tendance, to the contrary notwithstanding. In the suffrage pro- 
cession there were nine Revolutionary Patriots; in that of the 
Algerines only one. Does not this fact clearly shew on which 
side the principles arid the spirit of 76 incline? The algerine 
party had just put forth a high-handed and atrocious measure; 
and why did not all the dignity, all the authority, all the strength 
of the State, array themselves in order to sustain it? Why did 
not the Algerine clergy come forward to grace that procession, 
as they have always been wont to do, on similar occasions ? Had 
their keen perceptions already caught the taint of declining popu- 
larity ? Was there not in these facts a practical and strong re- 
affirmation of the People's majority? And did the Algerines 
perceive no meaning- in that mighty array of sad but earnest faces ? 
Could even Dr. Wayknd see some, in the agitated muscle, in 
the quivering nerve, in the tears that wet the cheeks of strong 
men, in the deep-settled determination that legibly shone 
through all, as if the arm of the Almighty had been suddenly re- 
yealed, and, even in the depth of sorrow, they felt that they should 
he strengthened ? 

The best of the Algerines are, indeed, beginning to be ashamed 



APPENDIX. 339 

-sf the conduct of their party; and well they may be, while many 
who are not the best, doubtless, see that much has been done 
unwisely; and that, considered merely as a stroke of policy, the 
SENTENCE of Gov. Dorr was a measure not to be sustained ; and 
when the great Heart of the Country is swelling- with indignation, 
well may they believe so ! But it is to be regretted that many 
should regard it merely as a party movement. There should be 
no partizanship in such a case Gov. Dorr should be considered 
— he must, and will be considered — as belonging to no party, 
but to his country, and to mankind ; so that injury to him, is in- 
jury to all; nay, it is an outrage against Freedom itself. When 
the great principles of American liberty, of Republicanism, are 
violated, every American, every Republican, should unite in de- 
fending them against the common enemy, without regard to 
iVAMES. We can never become a truly great, a Republican 
people, until this in done. The Declaration of Independence 
belongs to no party. It is the property of men, in general — of 
Americans, in particular ; and a vindication of its principles should 
be the business of every free man — and will, if he be free. 
Those who are bound by the trammels of Party to impeach what 
rthey know is right — to sustain what they know is wrong, — are 
not so. 

But a word now in regard to the legality of the proceedings 
against Gov. Dorr. It is believed and set forth by the soundest 
expositors of the law, that Treason cannot be committed against 
a single State ; because it is an offence against the sovereignty 
-©f a country ; and that, by virtue of our confederation, is vested 
in the People of the United States. A person cannot be indicted 
for treason against the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, against the 
Governor of Jamaica, or against any magistrate who presides over 
any one of tlie dependencies of Britain ; but only against the 
Throne itself, where the sovereignty is supposed to reside. But 
here is a case in Rhode Island, of a man who is indicted for 
Treason against the State. He is tried by the State, condemned 
by the State, and now, upon an acknowledgment of his guilt, he 
is offered pardon by the State; yet if he has committed Treason, 
at all, should he be liberated on such confession, he is, by virtue 
of his citizenship of the United States, liable to be again indict- 
ed, tried, and condemned to death, for Treason against the United 
States, to the express violation of the important clause. Art. 5, of 
the Amendments to the Constitution of the same, which provides 
that no person is, "for the same offence, to be twice put in jeo- 
pardy of life or limb." This might certainly be done; since 
Treason against Rhode Island would be, at the same time, Trea- 
son against the United States. I am aware that the Tory Jurists 
pf the present day, in order to sustain a party measure, are trying 
.to throw this opiuion into discredit, contrary to the authority of 



340 



APPENDIX. 



Law, the plain demands of Right, and the dictates of Common 
Sense. 

But o-rantinor that Treason may be committed ag-ainsc a singula 
State — admitting that the Algerine Act is constitutional — 
which it clearly is not — admitting, if you please, that Gov. Dorr 
is guilty of the crime with which he stands charged, that he de- 
serves the utmost vengeance of the law — yet is he to be "trans- 
ported beyond seas," for trial, when the Constitution of the 
United States declares, that the accused shall be tried " in the 
district where the crime shall have been committed?" Shall he 
be tantalized with unnecessary delay, when the same Constitu- 
tion provides that he shall have " a speedy trial ?" Shall he be 
condemned by the decision of ?i packed jury, all of whom m.ust 
have had pre-conceived opinions of the case, and several of whom 
had openly expressed sentiments and feelings hostile to his char- 
acter, and even to his life — when every man is excluded from 
the PACK, (well does it deserve the epithet!) who is known to 
liave political opinions coinciding with his own ? and all this, ia 
disregard of a plain provision of the Constitution, that the accus- 
ed shall be tried by "an IMPARTIAL Jury?" Shall he be re- 
fused a hearing, wJien he offers to disprove the charge of Trea- 
sonable iNTE.VT ; to prove the adoption of the People's Constitu- 
tion and his election as Governor under the same; or, in short, 
v/hen he attempts any mode of justification, by showing under 
what authority he acted, when committing the deeds wjiich have 
been construed into crime? And shall convicted criminals be 
heard against him? These questions are addressed, not merely 
to Rhode Islanders, but to Americans. Let them be attended to, 
for ikey must be heard, and they ajust be answered! Gov. 
Dorr must come out of^ that prison, if it be only to receive a fair 
trial. You will not see the strongest principles of American 
Law — of British Law — of Common Law — thus openly vio- 
lated, and their violation thus openly defended, in submission, 
and in silence ? Then are we one great body of Despots and 
Slaves!! Then is there no Rio'ht, no Liberty, among us! Then 
is the Declaration of Independence a repudiated Instrument, and 
the Constitution of the United States a dead letter!! If you 
cannot be swayed by a love of justice, let the selfish principle 
act upon you. Remember that the rights and liberties of a sm- 
gle man, though he be " tiie noblest Roman of them all," are 
not alone involved — but your own rights and liberties — the 
rights and liberties of your children — the riglits and liberties of 
Mankind ! 

And again. If Treason can be committed against the State, 
it clearly must be against the People of the State, for in them is 
vested the sovereignty. Now it is an established fact, which is 
capable of demonstration at any hour, that a very large majority 
of the whole people — a majority even of the Freemen, went with 
tlie Suffrage Party, and sanctioned all its proceedings, until an 



APPENDIX. 341 

'Unnatural and illegal force was brouglit to bear upon them. The 
Algerines well know this. They know that thousands now act- 
ing- in their own ranks, voted for the People's Constitution, sanc- 
tionincr it as the Law of the Land. They know that thousands 
more who are kept inactive by their odious tyranny, if they could 
express an opinion without danger, would ag-ain subscribe that 
Instrument and all that it provides. But if the Treason was 
committed against the Charter, as was set forth in the indictment 
of Mr. Dorr, have not the Chartists, themselves, repudiated and 
set aside that royal Document ? The General Assembly, with- 
out any instructionn or authority from the People, called the 
Convention that framed the present Constitution, which was 
adopted by a small nnnority, even of those who were entitled to 
vote under it. Th it Constitution never could have been sustain- 
ed, had not the Suffrage Party, with the hope of peaceably se- 
curing their rights, adopted t'le policy of registering their names 
under it. This measure is now to be deeply regretted; but none 
could anticipate, and none were responsible for, the abominable 
proscription that wns to follow — by M'hich manhood became a 
commodity — and the People of Rhode Island were /aie/fet/, and 
driv(m to the polls, as a drove of dumb cattle are driven to the 
market, or the slaughter house. Have not the Algerines, them- 
selves, been guilty of Treason; and that not merely against a 
void and exploded authority, but against the sovereign People of 
Rhode Island ; and, through the confederation, against the sove- 
reign People of the United States! That such will be tiie ver- 
dict it cfinnot be doubted, by any person who understands the 
nature of Treason, the structure of our Government, or the first 
principles of constitutional law. 

But while these decisions are making, for tliey are (tremble 
Algerines!) now making ! we will glance at the present position 
of Gov. Dorr. He has been committed to prison in confirmation 
of the sentence pronounced against him, of solitary imprison- 
ment, and hard labor for life. You have been told this; but do 
you know what that solitary imprisonment is? Do you know that 
it is almost certain to produce insanity? Do you know that, on 
account of its barbarity, it has been abolished almost every where, 
and is getting into disrepute even under the most despotic gov- 
ernments ? Have you thought of that horrible — that everlasting 
•silence, where a dull and deadly shadow creeps over the mind 
of the victim, until, in the fearful darkness of insanity. Reason 
reels and totters from her throne!! Human barbarity can inflict 
nothing more intolerable ! Pluman imagination can conceive of 
nothing more dreadful ! 

How different is this from the situation of O'Connell. For 

nearly the b \.me offence he has been sentenced, not to the State 

Prison for Life, but to confinement for twelve months. Then, 

instead of being thrust into a loathsome ceil, in the very place 

29# 



342 APPE?>'DIX. 

©f all others where he would not be, he was permitted to choose 
bis residence ; and he preferred Richcnoiid Bridewell to the Cas- 
tle, on ac ount of Us retu-ement, and the salubrity of the air. A 
garden, wiiich is described as " blooming with all that is de- 
lightful in fruit and fiowerR, encloses three sides, with a summer- 
house on the hillock, to which he has free access." Every day 
his friends visii him by hundreds, while uncounted thousands 
throng and fairly block up the highway, for miles, all being per- 
mitted to express the most affectionate interest in his welfare; 
and many wearing on these visits, the repeal buttons, the sign of 
politxal fellowship with the prisoner. But .here, in Rhode Island, 
a single cheer for Gov. Dorr, which indignantly burst out from 
one true and bold lieart, in defiance of the power that had just 
consummated its hellish work, was punished by confinement in 
the watch house !* Our prisoner is permitted to hold no commu- 
nication with any persoii. His friends have frequently asked 
leave to send him fruit, or books and papers ; but these requests 
are uniformly refused. Should he be sick, his afflicted parents 
would not be permitted to contribute to his comfort, nor to visit 
his couch. Even in the agcmies of death they would still be de- 
fied the last Hiournful privilege of love — to grasp his cold hand 
for the last time — to wipe the clammy sweat from his brow — to 
receive his parting words, and t-o close his eyes in death! He is 
treated as the worst criminal should not be treated, though he is 
guilty of no crime, but that of laboring to secure the rights of 
others. The iniprisoiunent of O'Connell, for whom we are ex- 
pressing so nuich sympathy throughout the country, is tender 
mercy, in comparison ! Are the English so much better than we 
are, as all this would seem to indicate? If not better, they are, 
at least, more cunning — they are iviser. 

An unexpected light has been thrown upon lliis subject, by a 
few translations from a volume lately published in Germany, and 
wjiich fell into the handt- of a gentleman wlio got a momenlary 
glimpse of it. I understand that another co])y of the same work 
has been sent to one of our Prison Inspectors, who also holds a 
high office in the State, whicli, with the one alluded to, is, doubt- 
less, kept carefully out of siglit, because it <;ontains revelations 
of monstrous barburity practised in the Rhode Island Prison, 
which, if known at thistu^ie, would arouse the whole country, in 
opposition to the power which has dared to establish a Baslile in 
our midst, and there to incarcerate for life one of our noblest citi- 
zens. But do our little law-o-ivers think to put out the eyes of 
the world — to extinguish tl5e light of the world. ^ The book ex 

* In the evening iifter the comnr.inieiit id' Gov. Dorr, f«amuel Whipr.li\ being 
then Oil xMarket Siiuare. proposed '■ tlnve clicers for the Rhode Island Liberator. 
He was immediately Mrrested by the Ma\ or, who e\hibiied the most coniempti- 
ble cowardice on the occasion, and coiueijed to tlu- uxHcli house. Let his name 
be re.,ieial.ered as that of one, wh", alone and uufeustained, dared sfeak out 
agaii.st ihe hosts of evil. 



APPENDIX. 313 

ists, and it will be published, and their infernal deeds will be 
brouo'ht to light. 

The circumstances connected with the book are briefly these. 
About six years since, Dr. Julian, a physiciaii of Germany, and 
a distingruished philanthropist, who had visited the different pris- 
ons of Europe and America, for the purpose of informing- himself 
m re'^'ard to their discipline, came also to Rhode Island, when 
ou; State Prison was in the course of erection. He has since 
written to the Inspectors, for principles and facts connected with 
the prison discipline. These were sent, accompanied by copious 
extracts from the Prison Records: and of the book which Dr. 
Julian hiis since produced, about twenty pages are devoted to the 
Rhode Island Prison. I am permitted to give the following 
translation from the work. 

Among all the cases enumerated, of injudicious management, 
in which the system of total seclusion has been cnpriciously sub- 
stituted for that of solitary labor,* thereby furnishing the opponents 
of the latter with plausible arguments against it, none are of so 
exag^rerated a nature, as that now brought to light of the Penilen- 
iianj of Rhode Island. The foregoing letter from Professor Liebeo, 
as well as the copies of documents received from tlience, amply 
represent the state of the case. To these I will, therefore, merely 
add a few explanatory and illustrative remarks, which will, I 
trust, sutiioe to place every reader on the proper standing point to 
judge of t ie unwarrantable levity, with Avhich affairs have been 
conducted there; and to convince him of the immeasurable supe- 
riority of the system, as practiced in Great Britain, (which from 
its liigh pei faction we recommend, not only in Germany, but 
elsewhere,) to the plan pursued in Rnode Island, ivhich could not 
have been attended ivith consequence less mournful, than those which 
have actually accompanied i7.'' 

He animadverts in severe terms upon one case, in which the 
prisoner, being ill, and finding the air painfully oppressive, in 
consequence of inadequate ventillation, applied for permission to 
breathe the fresh air. " What a culpable ignorance and disre- 
gard of the first principles of health, and humanity," says Dr. 
Julian, "must there have found place, where, on the one hand, 
the Physician, instead of obtaining for the invalid prisoner a daily 
walk out of doors, with the full enjoyment of the pure fresh air of 
heaven, considers a walk in the central hall of the building amply 
sufficient for his restoration ; while, on the other hand, even this 
slight indulgence is, after a few days, peremptorily countermaiuled 
by one of the Inspectors ! The consequence was tliat, after a 
short time, a nervous fever, or more properly, a jail fever, made 

* Dr. Julian strongly advocates snlitarj- labor; because bad men laboring in 
cominir.iity, exert a hli^lily demoralizing influence upon eacli other; but he as 
stro-.i^ly uTcjes the necessity of their being per/uitted to see their friends, and to 
hold soaie c<>,ninunicat:on with their more fortunate fellow beings. 



344 APPENDIX. 

its appearance in the patient, by which he was completely pros- 
trated for several months." 

The followini^ facts are gathered up without any attempt at 
direct translation. It had been proved, by repeated cases of 
insanity, necessary to g-ive the prisoners the benefit of working 
in company. Subsequently to this, it was deemed necessary to 
obtain permission to make use of dashing cold water on the head, 
chains, tlie lash, and other severe punishments, as incitements to 
labor ; starvation having been found insufficient, though con- 
tinued, in some cases, for five successive da3'S. This icas granted^ 
though a request at the same time preferred for regular moral and 
religious instruction, remained unnoticed. The wliole structure, 
regulation, and discipline of the prison, he describes as '■^outrag- 
ing not only the first principles of humanity, hut common sense," in 

A DEGREE HE HAD NEVER KNOWN IN ANY OTHER INSTITUTION, 

and the consequences, as appears by his extracts from the prison 
records, have not been less fatal than might be appreliended. 
Dr. Julian further says that the jail fever, to which allusion has 
l)een made, when it once gets into a prison, is never eradicated ; 
because the deadly miasma which first generate, always must 
continue to operate in its detention. In addition, I would observe 
that it has been lately stated by Dr. Cleveland, the warden of our 
prison, that one in every four of the prisoners becomes 
insane. These disclosures are more horrible than any which 
have been made before, even of Rhode Island Algerines. 

Soon after his incarceration in that living tomb, it was reported 
that the illustrious prisoner was ill — so ill as to have been in 
extreme danger — when the Algerines, in their clemency, per- 
mitted him to have a more comfortable bed. This was done by 
order of the physician, who declared that he would certainly die 
if he had not some better place of rest, than a heap or sack of 
straw, merely thrown upon the stone flour. He was also permit- 
ted, when able, to walk in the corridor. His exertions previous 
to commitment had been very greet indeed. In addition to the 
dreadful anxiety which must have oppressed him, he was obliged 
by the illness of his chief advocate, to conduct his case, and 
previous to his commitment he reported his trial, which was a 
work of great labor. His strength gave away uncier the weight 
of his cares and exertions ; and we cannot but fear that hotter 
restoratives will be requn-ed, than a Penitentiary affords, if he is 
ever well. It had been supposed by some of his friends, that ho 
would never consent to work, because compulsory labor would be 
a degradation. They mistook him grossly. He is too noble, too 
manly, for such a course. His first request, on entering the pris- 
on, was for WORK. He said that he ivould not he dependent on 
he State for his living; and, when very ill, his continual enquiry 
of the physician was, " When shall I be able to work ? for the idea 
of living dependent on the State of Rhode Island, a single day, is 
galling." 



APPENDIX. 345 



There is one very important point which should not be forgot- 
ten. It has been frequently asserted by the enemies of Mr. Dorr, 
that he might come out of prison at any hour, either by confess- 
ing his fault, or by availing himself of the Act of Amnesty, 
These impressions have been spread abroad, and confirmed, by 
sinister remarks, and all indirect manceuvres of the Journal. 
They have been injurious, as they are false. Mr. Dorr and Mr. 
Luther lotre expressly interdicted in the Act of Amnesty, passed 
at the last session of the General Assembly. Such an Act could 
only be authenticated by the Legislature, and there has been no 
session of that body since the commitment of Mr. Dorr. No di- 
rect offer of release, on amj terms, has been officially extended to 
hira ; and there is little reason to believe, that, should he humble 
himself, and falsify his character, by a hypocritical confession, he 
would //j.en be set at liberty. Every assertion — every insinua- 
tion to the contrary, is false. Let it be remembered. 

Though we cannot fear for the result, so far as the honor of the 
victim is concerned, we must tremble for his health, and even for 
his reason. It is the foul injustice which has subjected him to 
these evils, that stings so deeply. May it ever sting, deeply, 
and more deep!}'^, until the shame that rests upon our State is 
palliated by the release of the patriot-prisoner. To render him 
justice is now impossible, for that has been done which can never be 
cancelled. But some atonement is still in our power ; and if there 
is one spark of freedom still living in our breasts, one single idea 
of right, let it be speedily made. While there is life, let us act. 
Let not the damning sin of his murder rest upon us! When he 
beheld us struggling in the bitterness of hopeless bondti^e, he 
came forward, with his life in one hand, and his liberty in the 
other, ready to surrender each, or both, for our redemption. Let 
the thought be kept forever in our breasts, like a living coal of 
fire, that our noble Vindicator is in a loathsome prison, and may 

DIE THERE ! 

But he may be taken thence, not merely a dead body — for 
then we should know the pure soul, which we never rightly ap- 
preciated, had gone where it could be understood, and be made 
happy in its own truth — but with the light of reason put out, a 
senseless, raving maniac !!! Rhode Islanders, Americans! ha\'e 
you thought of this? Are you prepared for this? Will you 
permit this? I appeal to you, in the name of a neart-bleeding 
father! — in the name of a heart-broken mother! — in the name 
of a crushed and suflTering people ! — in the name of hi-n who sur- 
rendered his liberty that others might be free! — in the name of 
Justice! — in the name of God ! — pause not, faint not, rest not, 
until right is established. Undo the work of darkness. Break 
tljo bonds of Tyranny. Open the pr:son doors. You may do this 
Without other than the force of truth, without other than the force 
of Right, without other than the force of Law ! — If we cannot do 
this, we are Slaves. 



LIST OF ERRORS. 

Page 207, 14th line from top, for " the common justice," read 
common justice. 

Page 212, 18th line from top, for "is make known," read is 
made known. 

Page 227, 18th line from top, for " more injurious that this," 
read more injurious than this. 

Page 253,11th line from bottom, for " impretions," read im- 
precations. 

On same page, (253) in the extract from a letter of a person 
who was present at the affair on Federal Hill, it is related that 
" Gov. King made his escape down the back stairs," &c. Since 
the publication of the first edition, we have learnt from persons 
who stood at the front door of Mr. Anthony's house, at that time, 
that Gov. King, when he left the house, passed out at the front 
door, preceded by one or more influential men of the Suffrage 
Party. 

It is stated at page 259 of this work, that " There was much, 
and is much dissatisfaction stiU, in connection with the part these 
gentlemen (Messrs. Harris, Aldrich, and Ashley,) took on that 
occasion. As it appears, there must have been a misunderstand- 
ing among the several- parties. It ought to be added, that this 
^' dissatisfaction" arose from the statement there made, by some, 
or all of these gentlemen, that the " compromise" referred to, 
had been fully entered into by both the contending parties, and 
would be carried out. The fact was, that such information had 
been actually communicated to some, or all of the gentlemen 
who spoke from tJie window, from a source which, it was thought 
at the time, was entitled to full credit, but which turned out to 
be nothing more than a conserit to the terms of compromise, by 
certain persons of each party. Hence the dissatisfaction, which, 
so far as the circumstances have been known, it is believed, has 
been entirely removed. 

These slight corrections may seem trivial, but will subserve 
<one purpose, if no other, that is, to show our desire of sitting 
(down or suffering aught in this work, knowingly to be incorrect. 



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